Pittsburgh Technical College to close

Pittsburgh Technical College will shut down at the end of the spring quarter, effective August, it announced Monday evening.

The move comes days after its accrediting agency said the 80-year-old Oakdale-area college was in danger of imminent closure.

In a statement Monday, the college cited declining enrollment, market pressures and inflation for its woes, stemming from the covid pandemic and changing views of higher education. The statement also pointed to what it termed orchestrated attacks against the institution amongst the external pressures that have made it difficult to increase revenue and enrollment.

“Despite continued efforts to raise revenues and address the school’s long-standing financial challenges, the nonprofit’s board determined that long-term fiscal stability was no longer possible,” the statement read.

The college has 1,066 students, which is a little more than half what its enrollment was in 2016 when it transitioned from a for-profit to a nonprofit institution.

The college has been in the midst of tumultuous infighting over leadership, accusations of misconduct against the college’s president, Alicia Harvey-Smith, and counterclaims that she has been unfairly targeted.

The closure announcement comes as colleges and universities nationwide struggle with shrinking enrollment and rising costs. Triangle Tech campuses, including those in Pittsburgh and Greensburg, announced their closure last week, as did the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.

The school’s board said in Monday’s statement that it had worked to identify a path forward but had exhausted all options to try to avoid a closure. The board and Harvey-Smith had tried to address financial challenges, reducing the school’s debt by $10 million and forming public and private partnerships, with an overall focus on improving enrollment and retention.

The board said it considered potential operating models, mergers and partnerships to avoid closure, but the results proved insufficient.

What happens next

Informational sessions for current students will be held soon to discuss the closure process, financial aid, transcripts and continuing their degrees through the school’s “teach-out” agreements with other colleges and universities. Informational sessions for staff are also coming up, the college said.

Coursework and student life activities will continue as planned through the end of the quarter, and the college’s student housing, café and student and academic support services will remain in operation through Aug. 9.

The college said it was working closely with the Department of Education and the Middle States Commission on Higher Education to help students find other options.

Background

Last week, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education released a summary of board actions taken involving the college and ordered the school’s leaders to demonstrate by June 28 why its accreditation should not be withdrawn.

The commission rejected a previous teach-out plan that it had ordered in March because the plan’s quality and substance were insufficient to permit commission review.

Middle States asked for submission by June 17 of a comprehensive, implementable teach-out plan and signed teach-out agreements with appropriate teach-out partner institutions, including any documentation supporting the agreements, as soon as they become available.

As recently as Friday, a question-and-answer posted to the college’s website claimed that the school was not closing.

“As we continue to overcome past challenges, PTC is committed to ensuring that PTC is stable and sustainable long-term,” the site said. “We continue to look at options to strengthen our mission, programs and services, for the success of current and future students.”