The Struggle of The King’s College NYC to Reclaim Accreditation

The King’s College of New York City plans to continue its effort to regain accreditation amid major financial issues and the recent announcement that they will not be holding classes in the fall.

The Middle States Commission on Higher Education recently announced it was stripping accreditation from the Christian school in part due to issues surrounding its ability to hold classes.

A spokesperson for The Kings College on Thursday emailed The Christian Post a statement from the institution’s board of trustees regarding the situation, explaining that they were fighting the decision.

“The King’s College Board of Trustees and senior administration continue to contend for the college’s future and remain actively engaged in discussions regarding potential strategic alliances,” stated the board.

“The King’s College has decided to not offer courses for the Fall 2023 semester while leadership focuses on a long-term solution, and therefore continues to actively challenge the Middle States Commission on Higher Education’s action to withdraw accreditation.”

CP reached out to the MSCHE for a response to this statement; however, the Commission is closed on Fridays and unavailable to provide comment until after Labor Day. 

A Christian liberal arts college founded in 1938 and originally located in New Jersey, The King’s College announced in July that it would not be holding classes in the fall semester.

In a statement emailed to CP at the time, the college explained that although no classes will be held in the fall and multiple “staff positions will be reduced or eliminated,” this was “not a decision to close The King’s College permanently.”

“The board of trustees and senior administration will continue to navigate the college’s next steps and continue to contend for King’s future over the coming months,” the statement continued. “The board is committed to continuing our efforts to pursue strategic alliance opportunities.”

The announcement had come a few months after the college acknowledged it was set to have a “$2.6 million funding shortfall” brought on by “a perfect storm of financial pressures this year, between a slow, post-Covid-19 recovery, an economic decline, and rising interest rates which have complicated the sale of our DeVos building.”

In 2018, the college purchased Manhattan real estate for student housing via support from Richard and Helen DeVos, the parents-in-law of former U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.

In May, the MSCHE withdrew the college’s accreditation because it no longer met the “Planning, Resources, and Institutional Improvement” standard; the Christian college responded by filing an appeal in June.

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