Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is closing its college at the end of the 2024-25 academic year, writes Tom Dougherty for CBS News Philadelphia. 

While its college will close, the museum will remain open and its certificate programs, K-12 arts programs, and continuing education will remain in place.

PAFA President Eric Pryor cited rising costs, expanding requirements, and dwindling enrollment for the institution’s decision to end its degree-earning program.

Both the college’s Bachelor of Fine Arts and MFA programs will end instruction at the end of the current academic year. 

Juniors, seniors, and MFA students on track to graduate in 2024 or 2025 will still be able to do so.

“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,” Pryor wrote in a statement. 

PAFA leadership claimed it would help 37 first-year and sophomore students transfer to local schools with “minimal disruption.”

Founded in 1805, PAFA is known for being the first art school and museum in the United States.

“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,” said Pryor.

Read more about PAFA’s future at CBS News Philadelphia.

_____