Dive Brief:

• As it tries to stay afloat, Keystone College is cutting faculty and staff positions and eliminating academic programs to strengthen its financial position, the institution announced this week. All told, the moves are expected to save $3.5 million.
• The Pennsylvania-based private nonprofit said restructuring efforts will affect 29 positions, including some summer furloughs and the elimination of vacant positions.
• In addition, Keystone is axing three academic programs with low enrollment — chemistry, forensic biology, and child and family studies — out of its more than four dozen degree programs. Keystone said it plans to teach out students currently enrolled in the programs.

Dive Insight:

Keystone’s restructuring moves come roughly two months after its accreditor, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, warned that the college was at risk of losing accreditation and closing.

In early April, MSCHE asked that Keystone provide it with a teach-out plan. Later in the month, the accreditor warned that the college was “in danger of imminent closure” and gave Keystone until Aug. 1 to prove compliance with accreditation standards. Failure to do that could mean a loss of accreditation — and the access to federal financial aid that comes with it. 

All of this followed a deal for the college to be acquired by the nonprofit Washington Institute for Education and Research, which fell through earlier this year. 

In a separate potential deal, Keystone in late May said it signed a letter of intent with an unnamed “strategic partner” to form what it labeled an “alliance.”

In the college’s words, the deal would provide Keystone with “a more secure roadmap for a long-term path forward.” For now, the college and the partner are keeping names and details under wraps. 

Keystone said it will continue operating classes and enrolling students for fall 2024 as the deal goes through a required review by MSCHE, and that the college will operate as normal once the agreement is executed.

MSCHE didn’t immediately respond to questions about where it was in reviewing the potential deal.

When it announced the agreement, Keystone sounded an optimistic note, saying that it “brightens the future for the College.” President John Pullo Sr. said the letter of intent “creates a renewed path forward” for Keystone while acknowledging there remained “a significant effort ahead to create a more durable future for the College.”

The college, a 156-year-old institution, has struggled for years now. Between 2017 and 2022, Keystone’s fall headcount declined 25.7% to 1,131 students, per federal data. That number is down by even more — by 35.7% — from 2010. Its latest financials show a $2 million operating deficit for fiscal 2022.