On May 31, The University of the Arts in Philadelphia (UA) announced a sudden closure. 41 UA students chose to transfer to Point Park, where all of their credits were transferred and the previous price of their tuition was matched.
Marlin Collingwood, vice president of enrollment, said the closure was unprecedented.
“No one knew this was coming. Within 10 minutes of the Philadelphia Inquirer breaking the story, President Brussalis texted me asking what we could do,” Collingwood said.
Shortly after, Collingwood began to receive emails from concerned UA parents, and over the weekend more poured in. Conservatory faculty also began receiving texts and emails.
By Monday of that weekend, the university was able to agree on a teach-out agreement with UA that ensures students can remain in their same class and program as well as retain the credits they earned at UA.
AmiRae Lehr, a sophomore cinema production transfer student, planned to return to UA for her second year.
“After taking about a week to process everything that was going on, I decided to reevaluate my original choices for prospective schools,” Lehr said. “Point Park offered me immediate acceptance and waved the application which was super helpful.”
Lehr said that she was helped one-on-one by faculty members in the admissions office to complete the process of officially accepting the university’s offer.
Lehr said that the university’s advising office has been paramount in helping her transition into the school year during the Pioneer Experience in preparation for the first week of class.
“They helped ensure that I would be on track to catch up with my peers as well as guide me onto my future path,” said Lehr. “They were able to ease my anxieties about falling behind academically and made sure I am on track to be able to graduate on time.”
However, this teach-out agreement was not able to cover dance, musical theater and acting since those programs were already full, according to Collingwood. Yet, after working with Susan Stowe, chair of dance, they were able to add 25 spots to the conservatory’s dance program.
Stowe previously stated to the Globe that the number of prospective students that audition for the conservatory fluctuates each year, but traditionally the dance department auditions roughly 1,000 students for approximately 90 spaces in all three concentrations: ballet, modern and jazz.
Giavanna Marino, a sophomore theater arts transfer from UA previously studied musical theater at the now-closed university. Marino was unable to join Point Park’s musical theater program due to the program being full, which she said was unfortunate.
“When I first heard the news, I thought it was a joke,” Marino said. “Then I was very shocked and upset to learn the reality of the situation. [UA] initially told the press before the student body.”
Marino said that UA and Point Park share similar community aspects with both universities centering around the arts. However, Point Park’s many academic avenues set it apart from UA.
“[Point Park] has done as much as they can to help, and obviously no solution was going to be perfect,” Marino said. “But they helped me more than I expected, especially when they didn’t have to. I know that I and all of my peers from UA are grateful.”
Aubrey Gleason is a first-year theater production major transfer student from UA who was unable to begin this semester as a sophomore student.
“Point Park was the first school to put their all into helping me and giving me what they could,” Gleason said. “Unfortunately, repeating freshman year has felt redundant so far. Luckily I was already assigned a show to work on which has helped me transition to the university better.”
Gleason said that, while Point Park and UA are different in many aspects, the Downtown campus lifestyle makes them similar.
On behalf of the university, Collingwood said he welcomes all of the UA transfer students to the Point Park family.
“We’re thrilled to have you here,” Collingwood said. “We’re hoping you feel at home. Remember to breathe.”
