Following up on the University of the Arts. A virtual information session scheduled for yesterday (Monday) was canceled on short notice and today the university president resigned. The only other news that we’ve heard is that international students were given notice today that they must leave the country in 60 days.
Applications to Drexel had to be in by 6PM yesterday so that was the priority of our affected student.
Evidently Temple is considering acquiring University of the Arts.
I can actually see some solid potential synergies there. The issue is that that would almost certainly involve acquiring UArts’s debt.
Albright College, Reading, PA lays off faculty and staff.
Albright eliminates dozens of faculty and staff positions | Homepage Top Stories | wfmz.com
I agree that it may align nicely with Temple’s growing presence in the city and their existing arts curriculum. My SIL graduated from Tyler years ago (when the campus was up in Elkins Park).
As for the debt, adding UA’s $70M to Temple’s existing debt would push Temple over $1B (roughly 7% increase). With restructuring of the administration and staffing, Temple should be able to find enough money from the roughly $110M operating budget to easily pay the debt service.
It would also give Temple a footprint right in the middle of town, next to the Kimmel Center and Academy of Music, where Philly money still congregates for orchestral music, opera, theater, and other shows. It would be a nice get for Temple, and help them to continue “pulling” their north Philly location (which is still dodgy) closer and closer to center city.
Ursinus offering 50% off tuition to UA students.
Not sure Ursinus is in great financial shape either, though.
Yeah…this late in the game, it feels like Ursinus having spots to sell at half-price, with an over 80% acceptance rate normally, is struggling. While it’s “close” to Philly (about an hour in normal traffic), I’m guessing a lot of students who wanted to be in CC Philly might not want to live in Collegeville.
That’s the thing, I feel like whenever one college go under, several other colleges in precarious financial positions circle to grab students. The problem is that a small struggling college that scoops up UArts students may later fall to the same fate.
The Temple merger would be ideal.
Everyone needs revenues - even if it’s a short term blip.
I’m guessing if Temple were to “merge”, they will ensure the debt holders take a haircut - i.e. they will buy them as a bankrupt organization.
It’d make zero sense to take it whole - especially because it’s shuttered - they will want to buy for pennies on the dollar - as they should.
This is where it’d suck to be a bondholder or creditor.
I don’t know if it would be worth the struggle for Temple, or if those owed money would do it. The real estate footprint of UA is valuable. They could probably get paid in a liquidation right now…so the risks are low.
Most of UA’s buildings are historic and it would be a major struggle if someone bought them to tear down and redevelop.
If they go empty, someone will take that on. They’re worth a lot.
Maybe they should find a better Evans and rename it after him (or her) then they wouldn’t have the added expense. King County in Washington did that - it was originally named for slaveholder William Rufus King, but in 2005 the state legislature renamed the county after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Clarks Summit University temporarily furloughs all employees. The school only has 376 undergrad students. MSN
For me, a furlough would prompt a new job. I don’t know anything about the school, but the situation seems dire.
Interesting blog which I stumbled across. Scroll down to see the info on staffing cuts and colleges closing.https://bryanalexander.org/
Seems Pittsburgh might get its first school closing with PTC.
Does anyone else feel that the FAFSA debacle is going to contribute to a lot more colleges closing due to adversely impacting their Fall 2024 enrollment numbers?
I think it’s happening with just how fast schools are suddenly closing. Sudden closing with no warning is easier in the summer than in the Fall. Schools like University of the Arts, Wells, Goddard and the others can easily see if they enrollment are effects by May 1st. Sadly, if colleges are having issues July and August could witness huge numbers of closures. Let’s see how it goes.