[ti:When Colleges Close, Some Students Never Go Back]
[al:Education Report]
[ar:VOA]
[dt:2024-06-26]
[by:www.voase.cn]
[00:00.00]University closures in the United States in recent years have left tens of thousands of students unsure about their education. 
[00:13.73]Some face increased risk of never finishing their degrees at all.
[00:20.77]And the closures continue as schools around the country react to sharp drops in enrollment, or registration, of students since 2020.
[00:37.12]Nationwide, private colleges have been closing at a rate of about two per month, says the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association.
[00:51.73]The organization recently released a study with the National Student Clearing House Research Center. 
[01:00.49]It reported that 467 colleges, including for-profit and non-profit, have closed in the U.S. since 2020.
[01:14.35]The closings affected more than 143,000 students.
[01:20.52]Over two-thirds of the affected students received little warning and did not receive any support to continue their education elsewhere.
[01:33.65]Recently, students at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania received news that their school would shut down within days. 
[01:46.74]Many students are not sure what they will do next.
[01:52.23]Katherine Anderson came from the American state of Texas to attend the school, also known as UArts, last year. 
[02:03.60]She chose a program that she could not find anywhere else, combining the music business, entrepreneurship and technology.
[02:15.79]The closure of UArts has left her and 1,300 other students scrambling to find somewhere to go or something to do. 
[02:29.84]By the time the school announced its closure, many colleges had already completed their admissions for the fall.
[02:39.68]Anderson was accepted into the music industry program at nearby Drexel University.
[02:49.18]She told The Associated Press that it was not a perfect match, but "the next best thing, I guess."
[02:58.66]"Because of all that's going on, I felt very pressured to make a decision as fast as possible," Anderson said.
[03:08.51]She is now seeking legal action against the University of the Arts.
[03:15.25]Before its closing, UArts had trained musicians, artists, dancers and designers in Philadelphia for nearly 150 years.
[03:29.72]The school had suffered a sharp drop in enrollment and said it was faced with "significant, unanticipated expenses" that forced its closure.
[03:43.32]State and local agents are investigating to find out exactly what happened.
[03:50.23]Lynette Kuhn is a top official in the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
[03:58.77]She said, "We have yet to receive the answer to that question," in an online information event for University of the Arts parents and students.
[04:12.12]Heather Perfetti is president of the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, an accrediting agency.
[04:22.31]She said at the same event, "We all believe that no academic journey should include this kind of severe and abrupt disruption."
[04:34.88]Adam Machado came to UArts from New York's Hudson Valley. 
[04:41.15]He received a $32,000-a-year scholarship to study music.
[04:47.58]He is unsure if he would receive the same financial or training support from other schools.
[04:56.90]Machado has been performing in New York and Philadelphia with a band called Kids That Fly. 
[05:05.99]He added that he is sad not only for himself, "but 1,000 other artists (who) are without a home."
[05:14.75]Cyrus Nasib, like many classmates who went through the admission process just a year ago, is not sure what he will do next.
[05:26.51]"You don't really know where to start," he said.
[05:30.36]"It kind of just saps your motivation to do anything."
[05:39.63]The study also said as many as half of students affected by school closings did not return. 
[05:44.73]The numbers include students at nonprofit and for-profit schools, including two-year colleges.
[05:53.80]University of the Arts film major Ian Callaghan-Kenna did not like how the closure was carried out. 
[06:03.62]He said the school "acted like everything was normal" and then shut down just two weeks later.
[06:12.55]"It's just very, very upsetting," he said.
[06:17.58]I'm Caty Weaver.