In 1888, Lucy Wheelock established Miss Wheelock’s Kindergarten Training School in Boston. In 1939, when Lucy Wheelock retired after her 50th year as director, the Wheelock School incorporated as a nonprofit institution: Wheelock College. To this day, the college continues to focus on early childhood education. Women make up 82 percent of the undergraduate student body.
Now Wheelock College, facing declining enrollments and a budget shortfall, has agreed to merge with Boston University. As a result of the merger, the university will create the Wheelock College of Education & Human Development. This new school will incorporate the early child education programs of Wheelock College with the doctoral programs and research focus of the Boston University School of Education.
Robert A. Brown, president of Boston University, said in a statement to the university community, “we believe that Boston University’s Wheelock College of Education & Human Development will be one of the leading colleges of education in the country, with its focus on clinical practice, scholarship, and community engagement. The commitment to establish and support this new college will, I believe, appropriately preserve and enhance the great legacy of Wheelock College.”
Students currently enrolled at Wheelock will either become students in existing programs at Boston University, will continue in select Wheelock programs that will be newly incorporated into Boston University, or in some cases, will enroll in a transitional program that will allow them to complete their Wheelock course of study. Boston University will honor the tuition rates and financial aid packages of current Wheelock students.
The merger is expected to take place on June 1, 2018.