Keystone College accreditation to be revoked 12/31/24: Middle States Commission

[Ron Boerger]

Thanks to a tweet today from Frank Rossi, we now know that the Middle States Commission on Higher Education plans to revoke Keystone's accrediation effective the end of this year.  The college will have a chance to appeal, but looking at the laundry list of findings, overturning the decision doesn't seem all that likely.  You can see the whole history of this process at the link above, but the findings include:

The institution failed to

• (1) provide evidence that demonstrates compliance with Commission standards for accreditation (Standard II, Ethics and Integrity; Standard VI, Planning, Resources, and Institutional Improvement; and Standard VII, Governance, Leadership, and Administration), policies and procedures, and applicable federal regulatory requirements;
• (2) demonstrate the capacity to make required improvements; and
• (3) demonstrate that it can sustain itself in the short or long term (Accreditation Actions Policy and Procedures).

The institution failed to provide evidence of compliance with

• (1) all applicable government laws and regulations (Standard II);
• (2) documented financial resources, funding base, and plans for financial development adequate to support its educational purposes and programs and to ensure financial stability (Standard VI);
• (3) a record of responsible fiscal management, including preparing a multi-year budget (Standard VI);
• (4) program responsibilities under existing federal title IV and other state laws and regulations, including any audits of financial aid programs as required by federal and state regulations (Standard II and Standard VI);
• (5) a governing body that serves the public interest, ensures that the institution clearly states and fulfills its mission and goals, has fiduciary responsibility for the institution, and is ultimately accountable for the academic quality, integrity, planning, and fiscal well-being of the institution (Standard VII); and
• (6) a governing body that plays a basic policy-making role in financial affairs to ensure integrity and strong financial management, including but not limited to timely review of audited financial statements and other documents related to the fiscal viability of the institution (Standard VII).

According to this article, the school plans to file its appeal by next Tuesday (December 3rd).  The article further states

College officials said Keystone will stay accredited and remain open until the appeal process is completed, with officials planning for the spring semester. They added the commission has indicated the preliminary timeframe for an appeal hearing is March of next year.

That said, it also states

During the appeal, the college can't enroll or recruit new students, [must] maintain a clear and accurate statement about its accreditation phase and status on its website, have an approved teach out plan with agreements and remain in operation.

Being unable to recruit or enroll new students for several months at this critical time certainly will not help Keystone's prospects. 

For those who haven't followed this saga, Keystone has been in danger of losing accreditation for some time, have been very tight-lipped about their plans to address the situation, and earlier this year announced a "merger" with something called WIER, the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Washington Institute for Education and Research, but have released virtually no details of how the merged entity would operate or be funded.

[Ron Boerger]

Frank Rossi of Around the (D3FB) Huddle reports this morning that, per an "unnamed reliable source", Keystone will close effective Friday, December 6th.  Sad situation for all involved, especially the students who absent an approved teach-out plan are going to have to scramble to find a school in a very short span of time. 

[Ron Boerger]

Worth noting that the Keystone football coach responded to a D3football.com RT of Frank's post, saying no decision has been made and it would definitely not shut down on Friday.

[CNU85]

Per this report, Keystone has to come up with a teach out plan this week.

[Ron Boerger]

Keystone has teach-out agreements with seven colleges already but the MSCHE reiterated that updated plans must be available by today (Dec 6).

A lengthy Xitter update from Frank Rossi on Thursday is worth reading to those interested in this ongoing saga.  Briefly:

It appears that at the 11th hour on Wednesday morning, the USDA may have saved, at least temporarily, @KeystoneCollege from imminent closure. According to a source with knowledge of the situation, about 90 minutes before an 11am faculty meeting Wednesday morning, school President John Pullo received contact from the USDA concerning a USDA grant that the college had sought since approximately April 2024. The USDA purportedly informed the school that while it could NOT confirm awarding of the grant to the school, the organization suggested that the potential for grant receipt was trending positively. According to sources, the grant may have been approved by the USDA late today (Thursday), but this has not yet been corroborated with certainty.

[...]
While restoration of accreditation is not guaranteed for the school, the hope is that a Spring term will occur based on the availability of funding/a slowdown of debt payments due. Sources state that Keystone was going to indeed announce imminent closure at the Wednesday morning faculty meeting until word of the USDA grant potential came through 90 minutes earlier. In just 30 hours, the school has gone from a potential immediate closure to being on pace to complete the academic school year due to this late potential major development.

The deadline for Keystone to provide notice of intention to appeal is Dec 12th, so the progress of this grant/loan by then will probably determine the school's next steps.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

They're going to appeal regardless, I presume.  That should push the revocation back, at the very least, and perhaps salvage the spring semester - which really should be the goal for everyone.

[jknezek]

They're going to appeal regardless, I presume.  That should push the revocation back, at the very least, and perhaps salvage the spring semester - which really should be the goal for everyone.

Yes. But I've said this with B-SC, anyone who pays for next academic year is not doing their due diligence and is almost being idiotic with their money. Every one of those Keystone students needs to cut losses after the spring, if there is a spring. Otherwise they are just rolling dice with their money and time.

So appeal or not, economic commonsense means Keystone's death spiral is nearing the drain. Of course, commonsense and humanity sometimes don't coincide.

[Ron Boerger]

I think Keystone has met the Dec 6th teach-out deadline as they today updated their home page with a link to teach-out information (https://www.keystone.edu/about/teach-out-qas/).  There are now agreements with nine schools:

Cedar Crest College, Chestnut Hill College, East Stroudsburg University, Frostburg State University, Lackawanna College, Marywood University, Misericordia University, Moravian University, and Wilkes University.

[Ron Boerger]

A Sunday Times-Tribune op-ed seemingly confirms the school was set to shut down last week had it not been from the last-second intervention (?) from the USDA, but as is typical there aren't any details forthcoming from the school as to exactly what form of intervention that might be.  The school's president says "Keystone is moving forward with our appeal and has every intention of being open and accredited for the Spring 2025 semester" but there is nothing about how the school plans to appeal or to propose a future in which it can continue to be a going concern.