This news follows similar closures across the country, partly due to pressures on higher education generally, but also due to the particular vulnerabilities of arts institutions. The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the nation’s first art school and museum, founded in Philadelphia in 1805, will dissolve at the end of the 2024-2025 academic year. (The University of the Arts had been designated to host some of the Academy’s students.) Last April, the 150-year-old Art Institute of San Francisco filed for bankruptcy, and this fall the Art Institutes, a system of for-profit colleges, announced the closure of eight campuses nationwide.
Some failing schools have outdone themselves with construction projects; Others bought a property at the peak of the market, then saw its value plummet. Many have faced challenges caused by the disruption to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) process. The pandemic has hit art schools particularly hard, as students prefer to study these subjects in person, Deborah Obalil, president of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design, whose university was member.
Tuition for the 2023-2024 year was $54,010, according to a spokesperson, although the average cost of tuition is lower because, according to the university, all students receive some sort of institutional support.
Additionally, without large endowments, art schools are generally unable to provide significant financial aid. The university’s endowment was about $60 million, officials said. Yale’s was $40.7 billion in 2023, and that of the highly regarded California Institute of the Arts – known as CalArts – was $213.8 million in 2022.
The financial difficulties of the University of the Arts were widely known. Additionally, there has been a relatively rapid change among presidents with contrasting views, leaving some repeatedly experiencing a sense of whiplash, as well as rapid change in religions, admissions offices and advancement.
“It was an incredible place, but I also found it troubled and miserable and crazy,” Judith Schaechter said. who taught for about a decade as an adjunct in the craft department. She added: “I didn’t just like the students and other teachers. I love them. But no one who worked there could have been unaware that he was having financial difficulties.