ASA College, accreditor disagree on whether it will close

Higher Ed Dive

Natalie Schwartz

February 7, 2023

Dive Brief: 

• ASA College, a troubled for-profit college headquartered in New York, says it does not intend to close even though its accreditor said it received notice from the institution that it plans to shutter Feb. 24, its last day of the semester.

• Middle States Commission on Higher Education, or MSCHE, announced last year that it would yank ASA College’s accreditation by March because the institution was unable to comply with the agency’s standards. ASA College told the accreditor it planned to appeal the decision, but MSCHE voided the appeal due to the college’s upcoming closure.

• An MSCHE spokesperson said ASA College notified the accreditor about its planned closure at the end of January. ASA College, however, said in an emailed statement Tuesday that it does not intend to close and plans to “go through an appeal process, which is within the College’s rights.”

Dive Insight:

ASA College told MSCHE that it has provided appropriate disclosures to students, including through its website, according to an FAQ provided by the accreditor. However, MSCHE hasn’t been able to verify what information the college has given to students and has required it to “post appropriate public disclosures on the homepage of its websites.”

“After repeated reminders to ASA College, the website continues to reflect insufficient information for students,” the FAQ reads.

As of Tuesday afternoon, ASA College’s website says it is not accepting new applications. Higher Ed Dive could not find a notice about the institution’s closure on the site, although a site listing its accreditations does note that MSCHE recently withdrew accreditation, effective March 1, and says the college is subsequently putting in place a teach-out plan.

The FAQ also says that ASA College notified employees of layoffs effective Jan. 24. However, Cristhian Mancera Mejía, an attorney working in the college’s legal studies department, said Tuesday that neither he nor other employees he knows have received such notices.

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