Dear members of the PAFA community:

Today, I have news to share that requires us to work together through a challenging but necessary transition. The higher education environment has become increasingly complicated by rising costs, expanding requirements, and dwindling enrollment. Colleges and universities in our own region and across the country are struggling with these trends. PAFA, unfortunately, is no exception. Despite our best efforts to address these challenges, we have determined that the only path forward is to wind down our BFA and MFA programs at the end of the 2024-2025 academic year. This change affects our degree-granting programs only. Our certificate programs, commitment to K-12 arts programs and continuing education will remain in place.  

Our students, faculty, and staff are now and always will be valued members of our PAFA community. Accordingly, I want you all to know how we reached this difficult decision, the values and priorities that guided us in the process, and our vision for the future. I will share all those details, but first and most importantly, I want to share my commitment to all of you through this transition.

• Juniors, seniors and all MFA students on track to graduate from PAFA in either 2024 or 2025 will be able to do so as planned. 

• For first-year students and sophomores, instruction in the BFA programs will conclude at the end of the current academic year. For these 37 students, we will create personalized transfer plans to a range of local and well-regarded schools, with whom we have made agreements, so that students can complete their arts degrees with minimal disruption. Agreements are in place with University of the Arts, Temple University’s Tyler School of Art and Architecture, Moore College of Art & Design, Arcadia University and Pennsylvania College of Art and Design.

• We will treat our esteemed and dedicated faculty and staff with consideration, respect, and gratitude for all they have accomplished.

We will continue to meet, provide information and updates, answer your questions, and respond to your concerns. In the meantime, I invite you to visit www.pafaforward.org where we have posted detailed information for our students, faculty, staff, alumni, supporters, and friends. PAFA is fully prepared to offer support and care to our community as we wind down our degree-granting programs.

In making these changes, PAFA joins other colleges in the greater Philadelphia area and elsewhere which have had to merge or close due to growing systemic obstacles confronting degree-granting programs. We did not make the decision lightly. In fact, we sought every possible opportunity to avoid it. Recognizing the headwinds the College faced, the PAFA Board of Trustees established a Long-Term Sustainability group (LTS) to develop a blueprint for responsible governance of our collection, for maintenance of our historic Hamilton Building, and for growing our legacy in arts education.    

The LTS was determined to leave no stone unturned in identifying ways to continue our BFA and MFA programs with the least disruption to our students, faculty, and staff. The Board and PAFA’s Leadership Team conducted extensive outreach to potential partners with whom we might collaborate to continue granting PAFA degrees. These efforts did not bear fruit, and the Board yesterday, on Jan. 9, made the unanimous decision to wind down our BFA and MFA programs at the conclusion of the 2024-2025 academic year.

Although we will no longer operate the BFA and MFA programs after 2025, we will continue to pursue the arts education mission at the core of PAFA’s 218-year history. In many ways, the decision to end these degree-granting programs presents PAFA with an opportunity to return to our roots—arts education for the lifecycle of the artist. PAFA, at its heart, is a community of artists and art-lovers, and we will not waiver from our commitment to American Art, its creation, appreciation, and stewardship.

We are mapping out a new vision for the future for PAFA that honors our history, inspires our community, and continues to build our legacy. The path ahead will be difficult, even painful at times, but I believe it will lead PAFA back to what we are meant to be—a place to collectively celebrate the transformative power of art and amplify the creative work of the next generation of art makers. PAFA is the sum of many things—our collection, archives, studio and maker spaces, artists, scholars, exhibitions, public programs, classes, workshops, and our community. Even as our educational mission evolves, we will continue to grow all aspects of PAFA.

I recognize this news is unexpected and will create stress and uncertainty within our community. I assure you that my team and I stand ready to support and encourage you through this transition and that we will remain available, responsive, and engaged as we move forward. We will walk this path together, ever aware of the truly special community that PAFA has built and will continue to foster long into the future.

Eric Pryor, President