History of Bay Path College
1897 - Bay Path College founded in Springfield, Massachusetts as the coeducational Bay Path Institute offering business-teacher training, secretarial science, business administration, and accounting.
1945 - The Bay Path Institute is renamed the Bay Path Secretarial School; Bay Path becomes only one of three schools in the nation to switch from coeducational to single-sex enrollment (women’s college). The College also moves to Longmeadow, MA.
1949 - Bay Path receives approval to be named Bay Path Junior College.
1988 - The Massachusetts Board of Regents of Higher Education authorizes Bay Path Junior College to become a four-year degree granting institution and the name is officially changed to Bay Path College.
1995 - Carol A. Leary inaugurated as Bay Path’s fifth president.
1996- Bay Path’s annual Women’s Professional Development Conference is established; through the years it has featured speakers such former U.S. Labor and Transportation Secretary Elizabeth Dole, PBS/ABC news correspondent Cokie Roberts, NBC news chief and foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell, former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, and writer Maya Angelou.
1998 - Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher invited by Bay Path to be guest speaker; held at Springfield Symphony Hall.
1999 - The One-Day-A-Week Saturday College for adult women established at Longmeadow campus.
2000 - Award-winning Blake Student Commons built.
2000 - The College is authorized to grant the Master of Science in Communications and Information Management.
2000 - The D’Amour Hall for Business, Communications and Technology is established and features renovated classrooms with new instructional technology, video-editing laboratory, and computer labs for general usage.
2002 - The College is authorized to grant the Master of Science in Occupational Therapy.
2003 - The annual Innovative Thinking & Entrepreneurship Lecture Series; guest speakers have been Jeffrey Taylor, founder and CEO of Eons.com and founder of Monster.com; Craig Rydin, chairman and CEO of The Yankee Candle Company, Inc.; and Robert Kraft, founder and Chairman of the Kraft Group of Companies and Owner of the New England Patriots and the New England Revolution.
2003 - The Central Mass Center is established and offers the One-Day-A-Week Saturday College for the greater Worcester area.
2004 - Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand receives honorary degree from Bay Path College.
2004 - Mills Theatre, home of Performing Arts Department, is completely renovated.
2005 - The College is authorized to grant the MBA in Entrepreneurial Thinking & Innovative Practices.
2006 - Carr Hall, one of the main academic buildings, is completely renovated including new state-of-the-art science laboratories and classrooms.
2006 - The College is authorized to grant the Master of Science in Nonprofit Management and Philanthropy on campus and online.
2007 - The Burlington (MA) Campus opens featuring the One-Day-A-Week Saturday College and select graduate programs.
2007 - Bay Path Online is established, our virtual classroom offering the One-Day-A-Week Saturday College and graduate programs completely online.
