Unity Environmental University announced that it sold its campus at 90 Quaker Hill in a $6 million purchase agreement.

The university first put its campus on the market in 2023, listed at $5 million, according to university President Melik Peter Khoury. After closing costs and transaction expenses, the university said it expects to receive approximately $3.23 million.

The buyer, who has not been publicly identified, plans to use the property for “upscale summer camp programming and outdoor experiential offerings,” university officials said.

The sale follows years of consolidation and a changing approach to education at Unity.

In 2012, declining enrollment meant fewer than 600 students were on campus. It began experimenting with hybrid learning programs in 2016.

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, Unity struggled more with in-person enrollment, which had already been declining for years. University officials decided to sell the property in 2023 when enrollment remained too low to support continued operation.

University officials moved in-person instruction to its campus at Pineland Farms in New Gloucester, which is more flexible for a fluctuating number of students, while expanding its remote learning options.

Unity’s changes were aimed at offering accessible degrees to adult students, and the average age of Unity students is now 29. Now, overall enrollment is up — way up.

Most of Unity’s 10,000 students complete their degrees online, and the university structures its programs into terms so that it’s easier for students to take time off. The university has guaranteed stable tuition through 2030.

Unity is a standout in this way, as universities continue to close as enrollment drops. Many of Unity’s peer institutions, including Hampshire College in Massachusetts and Northland College in Wisconsin, announced closures in recent years.

“It’s bittersweet in the sense that I wish we had been able to repopulate that campus,” Khoury said. “(But) most of our peer institutions are actually closed, and we have been able to grow.”

For the town of Unity, the sale is also bittersweet. The university sold all the property it owns in Unity, except for the Field of Dreams, a scenic area with a walking trail that the university maintains for public use.

Khoury said Unity is not considering selling the property at the moment and is committed to working with town officials to keep it accessible to the community.

In selling its campus, the university said it looked for a buyer who would be good for the town’s economic development.

As a nonprofit institution, Unity did not pay property taxes on most of its property in the town of Unity. Khoury said he was not sure if the new buyer would run the summer camp facility as a nonprofit. Unity residents are excited about the possible boost to their property tax revenue.

He said he’s heard mixed emotions from town residents; some are sad to see the university go, but many are excited to see life back in a beautiful local property.

Jessica Pepin has lived in Unity her whole life. She said it broke the community when the college “petered out.” The college was once a hub, she said, with great activities and a library.

Pepin is thrilled to see the property go to a buyer who could benefit the community.

“Now to see somebody buy it is really exciting … it’ll benefit so many kids,” she said.

Khoury said he worked with the Unity Board of Selectmen at every stage of the sale process to ensure the campus went to buyers the town would be happy with.

Efforts to reach town officials were not immediately successful Wednesday.