The continued deliberation of graduate programs at Maryville College 

Maryville College has suspended its Master of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T.) program for the 2025-26 academic year, leaving some students reassessing their futures and raising questions about the long-term role of graduate education at Maryville.

The program, which started with the aim of preparing students for careers in education, has not been permanently discontinued. However, low enrollment has led the administration to suspend admissions for the upcoming academic year. Dr. Liz Perry-Sizemore, vice president and dean of the college, said, “The program has not been discontinued. Rather, we are not offering it for the 2025-2026 academic year due to low enrollment. We are recruiting for the next academic year.” 

For students like Hannah Phillips (‘25), the change was unanticipated. Phillips has been accepted into the program and saw it as a continuation of her education at Maryville. 

“I initially chose the program because I love Maryville College and thought this was a great opportunity,” Phillips said. She planned to earn her master’s in teaching and become a high school biology teacher.

When Phillips learned the program would not be offered, she was left to reconsider her future. “While I was sad to hear of the program’s cancellation, I think it made me realize that I wanted to go in a different direction,” Phillips said. “It was actually the push I needed to consider getting my Ph.D., which I didn’t think was a possibility for me before.” 

Hannah Phillips (’25), who originally planned to jump into Maryville College’s Master of Arts in Teaching as soon as she graduated, tutors two of her classmates earlier this year, before she graduated as one of the Outstanding Senior Award nominees.

According to Perry-Sizemore, accepted students and those considering the program were informed of the suspension in the spring of 2025. Because Maryville does not currently offer other master’s programs, there were few immediate alternatives for students hoping to continue graduate studies at the college. “We have no other master’s programs at this time, so we were unable to offer a master’s program as an alternative,” Perry-Sizemore said. 

The program’s suspension has also raised concerns about its impact on faculty. Perry-Sizemore clarified that no jobs were lost as a result of the decision. “All of the full-time faculty teaching in the program remain in full-time positions at Maryville College,” she said. 

Despite this setback, the administration is not eliminating a future for graduate education at Maryville. Perry-Sizemore said the college is creating an advisory group to study the long-term viability of graduate programs.

“This group will include faculty and staff. It will determine what is necessary for our M.A.T. program to thrive,” Perry-Sizemore said. She also added that the group will explore the potential for additional graduate programs in education, as well as the best way to consider graduate program development in other fields at MC.

For now, Phillips is taking time to regroup. She is currently on a “much-needed” gap year, she said, and plans to apply to doctoral programs in the fall. Though her educational path has changed, she remains grateful for the foundation Maryville has provided. 

The suspension of the M.A.T. program highlights the challenges many small colleges face when balancing student interest with program sustainability. For students, it can mean drastic and sudden changes in academic and career plans. For the college, it raises larger questions about the role of graduate education in an institution historically known for its undergraduate experience.

As deliberations continue, Maryville College is confronted with a difficult question: how to meet student requests for graduate programs while facing the small-college identity that characterizes it.

Mathematics Professor Dr. Dan Ross teaches a graduate-level course for Scots enrolled in the Master of Arts in Teaching Secondary STEM.