St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia has announced that it is merging with the Pennsylvania College of Health Sciences in Lancaster, Pa.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that the merger is scheduled to take effect next January following necessary accreditation and government approvals.
With a main campus that straddles Philadelphia and Lower Merion and a second campus in University City, St. Joe’s enrolls 7,863 students; Pennsylvania College has nearly 2,000 students.
St. Joe’s said the merger will add more than 20 nursing and allied health programs to its academic roster. The programs range from the certificate level to the doctoral level.
“It has long been our strategy to add nursing to our list of offerings for our students,” St. Joe’s Interim President Cheryl A. McConnell said.
Founded in 1903 as a nursing school, Pennsylvania College didn’t become a college until 2001 and didn’t receive Middles States Commission on Higher Education accreditation until 2006.
St. Joe’s has been in talks about a potential merger with the college since 2020, said Liz Kennedy Walsh, a St. Joe’s spokesperson. But the talks grew more serious last summer, she said.
