Drexel and Salus Universities are exploring an ‘affiliation’ — what could be the latest pairing of local schools

Two more local universities may be starting down the path of a merger: Drexel and Salus Universities announced Monday that they are exploring an “affiliation.”

The action could be subject to regulatory approvals, depending upon what form the affiliation takes, and it would be contingent on approvals by the schools’ boards of trustees.

An agreement linking the schools’ graduate health sciences education and clinical practice programs could be finalized as soon as late spring or early summer, Michael H. Mittelman, president of Salus, said in a message to the campus community.

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But much would still need to be worked out, including how to preserve Salus’ name and legacy and what will happen with its endowment, he wrote.

It’s not something Salus — a small, private health sciences university based in Elkins Park, which enrolls about 1,200 students — has just started to explore. Over the last year, the school has been considering “multiple expressions of interest from potential partners,” Salus and Drexel said in a joint statement.

Drexel president John A. Fry said the affiliation would bring a wide range of “nonoverlapping degree programs in the health sciences” to Drexel, one of the largest private universities in the Philadelphia region, with 23,200 students. Salus also has four clinical facilities in Philadelphia and Montgomery Counties that provide vision, hearing, and balance, speech-language pathology and occupational therapy services, Fry noted.

“This would further solidify Drexel’s place as a leader in preparing future interprofessional health sciences practitioners by adding renowned Salus graduate degree programs such as optometry, audiology, blindness and low-vision studies, speech-language pathology, occupational therapy, and orthotics and prosthetics,” Fry said in a message to the Drexel community.

Meanwhile, Drexel already has medical, biomedical, public health, nursing, and health professions’ programs.

It would be the latest pairing of local universities looking to solidify their position in an increasingly competitive higher education marketplace, with the number of available high school graduates on the decline and a further dip expected in a couple years.

Earlier this year, St. Joseph’s University announced it had a “definitive agreement” to merge with the Pennsylvania College of Health Sciences in Lancaster, the school founded by Lancaster General Hospital, which is the largest hospital in Lancaster County and now owned by the University of Pennsylvania. That announcement came less than a year after the Catholic institution merged with the former University of the Sciences. Also last July, the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education merged six of its universities into two new entities.

» READ MORE: St. Joe’s announces merger with another college, this one with nursing programs

In 2017, Thomas Jefferson University merged with the former Philadelphia University.

Drexel isn’t new to affiliations, either. In 2011, The Academy of Natural Sciences, the oldest natural history museum in the nation, became a part of Drexel.

And at least one other local college, Cabrini University, has been in the hunt for a local partner. With a mounting deficit last year, the university announced it was eliminating academic leadership positions, including that of the provost. It also laid off some faculty in December, and its president Helen Drinan said the school was exploring a merger.

Unlike the situation at Cabrini, Salus has not been losing money, at least not in the last two years. It had operating income of $2.35 million on revenue of $55 million in FY22 and operating income of $2.9 million on operating revenue of $54 million the year before, according to its most recent financial statements.

“Many universities are considering these types of partnerships as part of a strategy to tap into new markets in areas of study that have strong labor demand outlook,” Fry said in his message. “ … Global events and an uncertain economy are affecting higher education in unprecedented ways. In order to remain competitive and position themselves to be responsive to the expectations of the higher education market, universities must become more nimble and innovative in supporting and expanding their academic strengths.”

Fry said the affiliation also would expand Drexel’s graduate enrollment and further interdisciplinary research in new areas.

Salus’ president also touted the benefits, including an expansion in research collaboration and grant funding. Students would gain access to Drexel’s facilities, including its recently opened health sciences building, as well as its signature co-op program that places students in paid six-month work experiences as part of their education, Mittelman wrote.

“Such an affiliation, if completed, would greatly expand our ability to provide the very highest level of health care educational options, access to clinical programs, and major new opportunities for research collaboration — primarily because it would be built on the strengths of each institution, which complement each other very well,” he wrote, explaining why Salus has signed a nonbinding letter of intent to explore the affiliation.

Drexel also could serve as a feeder to Salus’ graduate programs, he said.

Staff writer Harold Brubaker contributed to this article.