John Fry, president of Drexel University in Philadelphia, announced today that the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) has approved the merger of Salus University with Drexel.
The approval makes merger plans long in the making official. In late March, Salus published a memo detailing the plan:
In the First Step, Drexel University will acquire control of Salus University, but Salus will continue to exist as a separate, degree-granting, educational institution. Once Drexel and Salus receive all appropriate regulatory approvals, Drexel and Salus expect to complete the First Step on or about June 30, 2024.
In the Second Step, Salus University will no longer be a separate, degree-granting educational institution. For the most part, the majority of current Salus programs will continue to operate under Drexel’s College of Nursing and Health Professions. For reasons of accreditation, the Pennsylvania College of Optometry (PCO) will operate as a standalone college. Salus will become known as Salus at Drexel University, Elkins Park. The Second Step is subject to approval of educational regulatory agencies, and our expectation is that it will be completed during the 2025/2026 academic year.
Salus University President Michael Mittelman (left) and Dr. Fry were joined by representatives from both universities at a merger agreement signing ceremony held at Drexel.
From Dr. Fry’s message:
As part of this approval effective June 30, Salus non-academic, operational units will become part of Drexel’s structure. We are currently awaiting approvals from the U.S. Department of Education for the merger and combination of our two universities for purposes of participating in federal financial aid programs. We expect to receive the second of those two approvals on or about June 30, 2025. Until that time, Salus will maintain its student programs/course offerings, registration, billing and financial aid systems.
As of July 1, Salus academic units — with the exception of the Pennsylvania College of Optometry, which will remain a standalone college — will begin the transition process to fully merge into Drexel’s colleges by next summer.
This is a historic day for Drexel for two reasons: We warmly welcome 1,187 Salus students, 362 faculty and professional staff, and more than 14,000 alumni to the Drexel family. And we significantly strengthen Drexel’s national leadership in preparing future interprofessional health sciences practitioners. This merger brings together the strengths of both institutions in graduate health sciences, including Drexel’s medical, biomedical, public health, nursing and health professions, and Salus’ optometry, audiology, biomedicine, blindness and low vision studies, physician assistant studies, occupational therapy, speech-language pathology and orthotics and prosthetics programs.
Dr. Fry also said that Drexel will be hosting a flag-raising ceremony at the Elkins Park campus later this summer. More details will be shared as they become available.
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Photo: Drexel