University of the Arts abruptly announces June 7 closure, vows to help students transfer

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia’s University of the Arts has abruptly announced that it will close in a week. Officials called the June 7 closure decision “heartbreaking” and “deeply painful” and said separate town halls are planned Monday with students, faculty and staff. They say University of the Arts had been in a “fragile financial state” with “many years of declining enrollments, declining revenues, and increasing expenses.” They said they had made progress but were unable to cover significant, unanticipated expenses — and a crisis came suddenly.