Pittsburgh Technical College put on probation
Accreditation at risk
Pittsburgh Technical College has been placed on probation and is at risk of losing its accreditation, the latest blow to the 75-year-old North Fayette institution that has been fighting controversy over concerns about its financial stability and leadership.
PTC’s accreditor, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, said on its website that the college had provided “insufficient evidence” of compliance with standards related to ethics, finances and governance.
The college will remain accredited while on probation, the commission said, but must produce an extensive “monitoring report” by May 1 demonstrating efforts to regain compliance.
Those efforts must include an explanation of PTC’s fiscal management, given the school’s heightened cash monitoring status, and assurances of the quality of teaching, degree approvals and personnel management, the commission said.
The school also must provide a “teach-out plan” demonstrating the “equitable treatment of students to complete their education, if the commission were to withdraw accreditation,” which could include partnerships with another institution, the notice states.
PTC confirmed its probation status and said the college “is actively engaged with MSCHE representatives and plans to fully comply with all related requests for information and address any issues raised by MSCHE to its satisfaction,” the school told the Post-Gazette in a statement through its PR firm.
“PTC is one of about 20 institutions of higher education currently in some status of
non-compliance action with MSCHE. We remain focused on our students and their success, and are committed to filling the workforce pipeline and training the next generation of workers in Western Pennsylvania and beyond.”
The school’s leadership communicated with all students, faculty and staff Tuesday with “detailed information and Q&A,” according to the statement.
PTC had 1,066 students enrolled in the fall of 2022, according to the school’s website. The college offers programs in more than 30 fields, including computer programming, nursing, welding, HVAC repair and culinary arts.
One such culinary student, George Sulesky, told the Post-Gazette last fall he was scared that his degree would be in jeopardy if the school lost its accreditation, though he was trying to put the concern to the back of his mind.
On Wednesday, another impacted student, Bryce Bladen, said he isn’t worried about not receiving a degree, because the school will find some way to ensure that happens.
“Otherwise I don’t see how that would be legal,” he said.
But the disruption has still been significant. One of his teachers left in December “due to the problems at the school” and he said he has spoken with other students whose programs suffered from sudden faculty departures.
“We all saw it coming,” he said of the probation notice. “As a student, we shouldn’t have to deal with this kind of stuff.”
Mr. Bladen said he is supposed to graduate from his graphic design program by the end of the summer.
The commission’s probation notice follows a lengthy back-and-forth with PTC that played out last fall as questions about the school’s leadership and financial instability came to light.
An outside investigation over the summer into president Alicia Harvey-Smith, who joined the school in 2019, found that her leadership “fomented extensive dissent from PTC personnel and created opportunities for misconduct.”
Several board members and top administrators left the school during the controversy. Ms. Harvey-Smith has denied allegations of wrongdoing.
In December, an audit of the school’s finances found that PTC lost $8 million in net assets for the fiscal year ending June 2023, raising “substantial doubt about the college’s ability to continue.”
The audit said PTC, which was restructured as a nonprofit in 2017, was considering selling itself or pursuing a refinancing of debt to stabilize its financial situation.
The U.S. Department of Education confirmed that PTC failed to meet the standards of financial responsibility for the year ending June 30, 2023.