La Plume, Pa. – On Friday, August 16, Keystone College and Washington Institute for Education and Research (WIER), a nonprofit organization formed to further and support higher education, announced that they have signed a merger agreement which, when fully executed, will merge the operations of Keystone under a newly formed subsidiary of WIER, while allowing Keystone to continue operations under its current educational mission.
This formal agreement follows the letter of intent that Keystone announced in May and will require the approval of the College’s accreditor, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) before fully going into effect. MSCHE has been notified of the parties’ intentions and additional submissions to MSCHE will be made to support their review of the proposal. Last week Keystone announced that it had submitted all requested documentation to MSCHE to ‘show cause’ as to why its accreditation should remain in place. That review will take place prior to and independently of MSCHE’s review of the merger agreement. Approvals from the Pennsylvania Department of Education and the United States Department of Education, as well as the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General, will also be necessary. During these review periods, which could extend into the spring 2025, Keystone remains accredited and will continue operation of classes, as well as all other college activities and intercollegiate sports, and will continue to accept and enroll freshman and transfer students for the Fall 2024 and future semesters.
The proposed merger agreement will cause Keystone College to become a nonprofit subsidiary of WIER, with the day-to-day operations of the College and its academic mission remaining essentially unchanged. Additional details of the agreement will be made available after reviews by the necessary accrediting and regulatory agencies.
In March 2024, after two years of discussions, Keystone and WIER mutually agreed to discontinue previous arrangements for a potential alliance. Talks between the two organizations resumed later in the spring and led to the current agreement.
“We are extremely fortunate to have secured this new agreement with WIER as it offers Keystone College a viable and more secure future, something that was uncertain earlier this year,” said Keystone President John F. Pullo, Sr. “This commitment from WIER is a vital component in support of our continued conversations with Middle States as we work closely with them to retain our accreditation by reassuring them of Keystone’s stability. We believe it also offers a more definitive message to the entire community, especially prospective Keystone students, that Keystone remains open and will continue to build upon our 156-year legacy.”
“The entire College community is grateful to WIER for the shared commitment to Keystone’s future,” Pullo continued. “WIER embraced Keystone’s mission when we started our conversations two years ago. While we mutually decided in March to abandon the previous agreement, we also agreed to continue our discussions. Those talks solidified our collective determination to secure a path forward for Keystone.”
Pullo noted that the terms and conditions of the new agreement are better suited to achieving the combined objectives of growing the College and providing a high-quality educational experience to an even broader community of learners.
“American higher education is losing too many institutions like Keystone which historically serve students for whom a college education changes their entire family’s trajectory. While we are dedicated to enhancing that mission, with WIER’s support, we are equally driven to being innovative with respect to the educational opportunities needed for today’s students in all areas, including online, international, and certifications,” Pullo added.
About WIER
WIER is an IRC 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation registered in Washington, D.C., and organized for the charitable purposes of furthering, funding, promoting, and supporting postsecondary education. WIER’s purposes include the establishment and operation of post-secondary degree-granting institutions for the instruction of students and funding and supporting other post-secondary IRC 501(c)(3) granting institutions. The Institute was founded in 2023.
MSCHE Update
On August 1, Keystone College submitted the Show Cause Report as requested by MSCHE. A “show cause” report provides supportive documentation as to why an institution’s MSCHE accreditation should not be withdrawn. The request for a show cause report was a result of Keystone’s inability to comply with Standard VI following the MSCHE Self-Study which was completed in March. Standard VI requires an institution to have adequate financial resources to continue long-term viability. Keystone College remains accredited while on show cause.
Included among the items submitted in Keystone’s Show Cause Report were documented financial resources, funding base, plans for financial development, multi-year budget, annual independent audit, as well as a support agreement with WIER. The Show Cause Report is not a public document and has only been shared with MSCHE.
The next step in this process is an onsite evaluation visit on August 27-28 by a team of peer reviewers appointed by MSCHE. Following that visit, the team will submit their report to MSCHE in September and Keystone will have an opportunity to respond to that report. In October, Keystone can make a show cause presentation to MSCHE which can address any questions that were raised during the review process as well as provide any updates since the original report submission. The MSCHE action on show cause is not expected until November.
“The national reports of higher education institutions closing at the rate of one per week are well documented and alarming. Those closures have drastically impacted the most vulnerable students in the system. The process of saving and rebuilding a college is exhaustive and must be done deliberately. We have tried to be as transparent as possible as we move through this process while not negatively impacting our desired outcome,” said Tim Pryle, Keystone’s Vice President of Enrollment, Institutional Advancement, and Marketing. “The American marketplace has quality at every price point in all industries. Higher education is no different. At Keystone, we aim to reestablish ourselves by building on the quality, private, liberal arts-based education that Keystone provides at an affordable cost in today’s higher education market. We are grateful to have found a partner in WIER to forge ahead in our shared mission.”
