Cheyney University, the nation’s oldest HBCU which has been saddled by debt and eyed for potential consolidation by state legislators, faces another obstacle on its uphill climb to survival.
Enrollment at the struggling HBCU has dropped from 755 last fall to 469 this semester, according to the Philadelphia Tribune.
School officials attribute the losses to increased enrollment standards.
Walton said 566 students have applied for admission next fall. Of that number, 124 have already been accepted. That compares more favorably to the 100 freshmen admitted out of just 136 applicants for the current semester.
Walton says the current admission standards at Cheyney are probably “the highest they have ever been.”
In March, an outside consulting firm developed a proposal for Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, with a consolidation plan for Cheyney and nearby West Chester University among its recommendations.
In September, PASSHE Chancellor Dan Greenstein dismissed the concept, saying that the state had an obligation to provide higher education to its citizens, despite falling enrollment throughout the system.
