Saint Joseph’s University and the University of the Sciences make a play for scale and health-care programs, but issues of identity will need to be addressed.
A merger proposal between two long-standing private universities in Philadelphia that was revealed Wednesday seems to make sense from the perspective of the institutions’ programs, scale, financial condition and the state of the higher education market.
But like any merger-and-acquisition activity between two unrelated universities with hundreds of years of their own history, the potential deal raises deep questions of identity and strategy. It prompts some renewed reflection on a fast-changing higher education market that’s leaving some small institutions and their students with no simple options for the future.
The deal would have Saint Joseph’s University, a 6,800-student institution on the western edge of Philadelphia, acquiring the University of the Sciences, a 2,400-student university in West Philadelphia. Saint Joseph’s would keep its name, and leaders currently want Saint Joseph’s to continue operating both institutions’ campuses, which are located about five miles apart.
Few details are set in stone at this moment. Leaders at the two universities have signed a nonbinding letter of intent. They’ll spend several months evaluating the proposal before making a call on whether it should move forward. In other words, both sides could still walk away if new rounds of expanded negotiations fall apart.