After PAFA eliminated degree courses, 5 students transferred to UArts. Now they are college-less once again
PAFA students were encouraged to apply to UArts because the school offered to match their scholarships. Now, that option no longer exists.
Jaedan Orsini, 20, a painter from North Jersey, has had college plans upended for the second time this year.
In January, Orsini was enrolled at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts when the school announced it would eliminate its degree programs by the end of the 2024-25 year. All 37 freshmen and sophomores, including Orsini, would need to transfer elsewhere to complete their undergraduate degrees.
The school arranged transfer opportunities to local institutions, including University of the Arts, Temple University’s Tyler School of Art and Architecture, Moore College of Art and Design, and others.
Orsini enrolled at UArts, where many PAFA students were encouraged to apply because the school offered to match their scholarships. In Orsini’s case, UArts promised an additional $45,000 on top of the $21,500 in scholarship funding received from PAFA. Orsini planned to finish up their second year at PAFA and study at UArts in the fall.
But on May 31, UArts announced that it would close in one week, and then lost its accreditation. UArts’ board of trustees cited an unspecified, urgent financial crisis and just days later, the university’s president, Kerry Walk, resigned.
Orsini is one of five PAFA students who had enrolled at UArts, and once again find their paths derailed by the closing of a Philadelphia arts college.
“Both closures have really tied our hands with what we can do moving forward,” said Orsini, who lives in University City. “I already signed a lease [on an apartment] in anticipation of continuing at PAFA back in January so I’m stuck in Philadelphia without a college.”
Orsini is nervous about the dwindling options for arts schools in the region and worries about not getting the same kind of transitional support from UArts that PAFA provided. It’s also unclear whether any of the scholarships will be available at another institution.
“I’m just going to have to wait and see what UArts and other schools are able to do, but I’m hopeful that they can work out a satisfactory pathway,” said Orsini. “Admittedly, I don’t have too much confidence in receiving much support from UArts, as I technically never studied there, but I’m hoping for the best.”
A PAFA spokesperson said the school has contacted all five students to offer assistance in transferring to another partner institution, including Arcadia University, Pennsylvania College of Art and Design, Moore, and Temple. If a student applies to one of these schools, the application fee will be waived.
“I’ve definitely been mourning about what PAFA could have been. It was a beautiful opportunity for artists to meet in an intimate space and it felt like the perfect school for me,” said Orsini.
On Tuesday, Temple’s board chair, Mitchell L. Morgan, said the university is exploring a potential merger with UArts to save the 150-year-old institution.