After encountering severe financial difficulties, it was forced to close during the Great Depression,[6] but was purchased by William Fitts Carlson in 1939 and relocated to its present location in the Oak Hill section of Newton.

Classes ended after the commencement in the spring of 2018 and students of the small school were offered automatic admission to UMass Dartmouth (though that university did not have all of the same academic programs).

[3] Newbury College (which itself closed in 2019) announced that it would grant full transfer credit to Mount Ida students and would help them finish their degrees.

[6] Mount Ida College consisted of four schools (which included some prominent stand-alone schools prior to merger) The Gallery at Mount Ida College held exhibitions of regional, national, and international fine artists and designers.

The Gallery had featured works in photography, painting, sculpture, video, and a variety of other art forms.

The Gallery opened in 1999, allowing artists and designers to have a showcase for traditional and alternative media works as an innovative part of the Mount Ida College Learning Community.