Dive Snapshot:
- The University of Valley Forge is closing indefinitely once its summer semester ends in August after leaders concluded the institution “could not continue academic operations responsibly,” its board announced Wednesday.
- The sudden closure follows “extensive efforts to address the University’s financial challenges, pursue strategic partnerships, and identify sustainable paths forward,” the board said.
- In June, the private Pennsylvania institution’s accreditor ordered it to submit evidence that it had sufficient financial resources and funding to meet the agency’s standards, a sign that it was in fiscal distress and at risk of losing accreditation.
The impact: On an FAQ page, UVF said it has “no current plans” to resume its academic operations. It will keep only essential employees on staff to support students and their transitions, preserve academic records, and oversee assets and institutional responsibilities, the university said.
UVF listed three “potential” teach-out partners, all of which are Christian colleges, as UVF is. Those are Messiah University and Eastern University, two fellow Pennsylvania institutions, as well as Southeastern University, in Florida.
“Please know that until the very last moment, we had significant reason to believe there was a sustainable path forward,” the board said Wednesday. “However, that path did not materialize in time.”
UVF enrolled 589 students in fall 2024, most of them undergraduates. That headcount held roughly steady in recent years but was about one-third smaller than its student body a decade prior.
The context: Founded in 1939 as a Bible institute, UVF is affiliated with the Pentecostal Assemblies of God religious network. As such, it’s one of many religious colleges to close in recent years amid broader financial and enrollment pressures in higher education. Those include Anna Maria College, Lourdes University and Providence Christian College — all of which announced this year that they would shutter.
UVF’s accreditor, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, has been pressing the institution for more information about its finances for years. The university’s last publicly disclosed audited financial statement dates back to fiscal 2021, while other institutions have typically disclosed their fiscal 2025 statements by now.
Even back then, in fiscal 2021, UVF exhibited financial stress, including steep declines in net tuition revenue. In 2019, the university closed a Virginia campus.
On June 25, the accreditor issued a show-cause order, meaning UVF risked losing accreditation if it couldn’t prove it could financially support its operations. MSCHE also instructed UVF to submit a teach-out plan by September.
What we’re watching: While UVF framed its closure as a suspension of its academic operations, it offered no hint that it would or could reopen in the future. With the shuttering to come in less than a month, its last-minute decision to close is likely to be highly disruptive for students, who will have to make decisions and arrangements for where to study on the fly.
The board will also have to navigate winding down the university. That could include resolving its debts — which came to $30.8 million in fiscal 2021 — and selling its property. In fiscal 2021, UVF's total property was valued at $25.6 million. That figure included a conference center it had then already been trying to sell for years and is still listed as for sale.
