Middle States extends UArts’ accreditation a month to get degrees awarded and grades processed

Its accreditation, which had been withdrawn earlier this month, has been extended to July 19.

Signs denounce the closure of UArts in front of the University of the Arts Dorrance Hamilton Hall on South Broad St. in Philadelphia on Sunday, June 9.Read moreElizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer

Published June 21, 2024, 5:08 p.m. ET

The Middle States Commission on Higher Education, the University of the Arts’ accrediting body, has extended the school’s accreditation to July 19 to allow for the awarding of earned degrees and the processing of grades.

The commission announced the extension in an update posted to its site Friday afternoon. It had said at a town-hall meeting earlier this month that it planned to extend the accreditation to help students get the grades and degrees they were entitled to receive before the university abruptly closed on June 7.

The university said Friday that 71 additional students will be able to graduate as a result of the extension.

The commission withdrew UArts accreditation nearly a month ago after the school announced its imminent closure without proper notice or plans in place. More than 600 of the 700 employees were laid off, with a core group remaining in place to close out operations.

Earlier this week it became apparent that UArts does not have enough money to pay its employees the minimum it owes them under federal law following a meeting between a lawyer for the university and a human resources official and the university’s staff and faculty unions.

The school has been mum on the financial problems that caused the school to close, though a trustee told The Inquirer it needed about $40 million. Former president Kerry Walk resigned days after the closure was announced. The school didn’t even tell employees and students about the imminent closure until after The Inquirer reported it. Investigations have been called for.

The university’s closure left students scrambling to transfer to other schools. The commission earlier this month announced that teach-out plans were finalized with six schools: Moore College of Art and Design, Drexel University, Temple University, Montclair State University, Point Park College in Pittsburgh, and the New School in New York. On Friday, the commission added three more: Alfred University in New York, Arcadia University in Glenside, and Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore.

Meanwhile, Temple is continuing to explore the potential acquisition of UArts and reopening the institution as University of the Arts at Temple University, according to a source close to the talks who asked for anonymity because the talks are private.

Temple has involved lawyers and facility experts and is looking at the availability of insurance for the university, as well as talking to UArts trustees, the source said.

A Middle States official said at the town hall last week that a merger, if it did happen, would take a year.