Baltimore students ‘stuck in limbo’ after Stratford University abruptly closes

Mara Smelkinson had just three courses left before she could graduate from Stratford University with her associate degree in pastry arts, her life’s passion. “I would be the first one to get a degree out of my immediate family, so it meant a lot to me to finish,” said the 28-year-old Towson resident. But Smelkinson and other students at Stratford University’s Baltimore campus learned Friday that the school was closing for good. “We’re all devastated, especially people like me that only had a couple classes left,” she said. In a statement posted to the school’s website, school president Richard Shurtz blamed the closure on a “set of unfortunate circumstances,” including a decision by the U.S. Department of Education.