College accreditation reviewers will visit Keystone College later this month to evaluate the financially struggling college again, but classes are expected to start on time.
Middle States Commission on Higher Education peer reviewers will follow up on a report Keystone submitted to the organization on Aug. 1, the day it was due.
The reviewers are expected at the college on Aug. 27 and 28. Classes are scheduled to begin the day before they arrive. Keystone straddles the border of Lackawanna and Wyoming counties.
Keystone’s submitted report aims to show why the school should keep its Middle States accreditation. Without accreditation, colleges lose eligibility for federal aid passed on to students, which could damage the ability to operate. The college declined to release the report.
In the statement announcing the report’s submission, school president John F. Pullo Sr. said Keystone is grateful for Middle States’ support so far and happy to provide the report “to demonstrate the college’s viability for retaining our accreditation.”
“This is an arduous process, and it should be,” Pullo said. “As our accreditor, Middle States deserves all of the information that they need to reaffirm Keystone’s accreditation. We look forward to continuing to work with them toward achieving that common goal.”
The report had to detail financial resources, a funding base, plans for financial development, a multi-year budget, an annual independent audit and a support agreement with its “strategic partner.”
The U.S. Department of Education has said had trouble filing annual audited financial statements on time. For example, the college filed the statement for the fiscal year ending May 31, 2021, on March 4 of this year, the department said.
In September, the department cited the school for violating federal regulations by not filing audits for fiscal years 2021 and 2022 on time.
The 2022 audit has since been filed.
On May 24, Keystone announced an agreement with an unnamed strategic partner to allow the school to stay open. The school expects to reveal the identity before classes resume, said Timothy J. Pryle, vice president of enrollment, institutional advancement and marketing.
A month later, the school announced cuts to 29 faculty and staff positions to save $3.5 million a year.
In March, the college had a deal to transfer ownership to the Washington Institute for Education and Research, a Washington, D.C.-based organization. Within a week after the deal became public, it fell apart for undisclosed reasons.
Less than a week after that, the school placed vice president for finance and administration Stuart Renda on administrative leave and warned faculty and staff against communicating with him. The school said it was cooperating with an “independent investigation.”
Wyoming County District Attorney Joe Peters referred the case to the state attorney general’s office without explaining why. The office acknowledged getting the referral but declined further comment.
The Middle States team will submit a report to the agency in September and Keystone will have a chance to respond, according to the school’s statement.
In October, Keystone can formally present its case for continued accreditation, address any questions raised during the review and provide further updates.
The commission’s accreditation decision is expected in November, the school said.
