Drexel University last January earned praise for expanding a transfer program that brings the university's faculty members to local community colleges. But Drexel is phasing out the program less than a year later.
As The Philadelphia Inquirer first reported, the university will no longer offer bachelor's degrees on the campuses of two Pennsylvania community colleges and one located across the Delaware River, in New Jersey.
Drexel issued a written statement explaining the decision. It didn't offer specific reasons for nixing the relatively new programs with Montgomery County Community College and Delaware County Community College, as well as one with New Jersey’s Burlington County College, which has been in place for almost a decade.
"We now believe that students are best served by completing their degree on Drexel's campus," the written statement said, "where they will have access to the full Drexel experience, including interactions with a wide range of faculty and other students and to all of the resources available on campus."
The university has recently spent heavily on expanding and improving its main campus in Philadelphia. As a result, the statement appears to suggest that taking degrees to the suburbs has become less of a priority for Drexel, one source speculated.
It would be surprising if money concerns killed the on-site degrees, given Drexel's confidence about the programs' bottom line last year.
Read more at Inside Higher Ed: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/01/06/promising-partnership-between-drexel-university-and-three-community-colleges-ends