Association of Independent Colleges & Universities of Pennsylvania (AICUP)

09/15/2026

Day is back! 🤸‍♂️ See you in , September 29, when mascots from across gather together at the State Capitol. Learn more at the website AICUP.org. 🐯 🦅 🐻 ⚾ 🏈 🏀 🥇 🏆 🙌

📺 https://youtube.com/shorts/CGWVLBaN-o8?feature=share

09/10/2026

How does higher education meet needs, and how can employers support their local partners? 🤝 President Tom Foley addressed these questions and more during a featured presentation at the Summit. 🎓 Held at Rock Lititz, attendees heard from students, President Dr. Lisa Lambert (PCA&D - Pennsylvania College of Art & Design and Chatham University are both AICUP members), Chancellor Dr. Christopher M. Fiorentino, and President Dr. Neeli Bendapudi, and legislators. AICUP schools are active industry partners in , and many are active at their local chambers and with the statewide Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry. 👉 Learn more: https://www.pachamber.org/events/2026_higher_education_summit/

09/08/2026

Quote: "There is nothing wrong with a 90-credit-hour degree, but calling it a bachelor’s is misleading and confusing. No one would call three quarts of milk a gallon." New post by Jonathan Green, former Chair and current President of Susquehanna University:
👉 https://wordpress.susqu.edu/undercurrents/

Learn more on this topic:

• , quote: "students in the 4-year program performed better than the students of the 3-year program on several indicators of desired graduate attributes."

👉 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27299206/

• The Atlantic magazine, quote: "The Rise of Liberal Arts in Hong Kong: While curricula are on the decline in the U.S., many Asian countries believe they give the to succeed in a global knowledge economy."

👉 https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/03/the-rise-of-liberal-arts-in-china/474291/

• opinion, "This Is the Real Point of ." Quote: "the liberal arts prepares students to pivot in many directions given shifting labor force needs."

👉 https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/04/opinion/college-freshman-education.html

🎓

09/01/2026

College prices have been dropping for a decade ⬇️, so then why do the same people keep saying college prices are going up? ⬆️

Maybe because they haven't read this critical report by Danielle Douglas-Gabriel in today's Washington Post. 💡

You may remember another recent post about revealing the fact that 𝟵𝟰% 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝘁𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗣𝗲𝗻𝗻𝘀𝘆𝗹𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗮 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝗔𝗜𝗖𝗨𝗣 schools, and that AICUP schools offer the best quality and affordability for a or in . 🎓 🙌

How about we 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁. What do you think? 🤔

🔊 Quotes from today's story ("As more colleges surpass $100,000 price tag, here’s the true cost"):

• "While sticker prices have climbed, net prices have come down over the years because of an increase in student aid"

• "One of the best ways for families to figure out whether they can afford a college is to check out the net price — what students pay after grant aid is applied."

• "'A lot of people aren’t aware of what’s been happening,' Scott-Clayton said. 'We’re so used to increases that are way bigger than inflation because that was the story from 1980 to 2010 … but over the last 10 years prices in real terms are flat or even down.'"

• "college pricing is far more nuanced than the numbers suggest."

👉 Story link:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2026/09/01/more-colleges-surpass-100k-price-tag-heres-how-you-can-afford-it/

🌎 Learn more facts like this from 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗜𝗖𝗨𝗣 𝗱𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱, Pennsylvania's first and only comprehensive tool for students and parents based on trusted sources with college , , and value:

https://aicup.org/communications/dashboard/

08/31/2026

news from Central Penn Business Journal and Lehigh Valley Business: "AICUP report shows nursing schools helped resolve Pa. nursing ." 🩺⚕️🎓

👉

https://www.cpbj.com/aicup-report-shows-nursing-schools-helped-resolve-pa-nursing-shortage/

“Two years ago, we were looking at a potentially life-threatening logistical nightmare for local ,” said [AICUP President Tom] Foley. “We needed more , it’s as simple as that. The schools stepped up when needed them. We have more work to do, but we can still take a moment to celebrate this astonishing success, and share what worked.”

👍

08/27/2026

is "𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗳𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝘂𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗣𝗲𝗻𝗻𝘀𝘆𝗹𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗮 𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀" through its group purchasing collaborations and business efficiency programs, according to a report by . In fact, AICUP saves students and schools $50 million each year through this work. Read the full report here: "Consortia Accelerate In The Face Of New Challenges And Opportunities" 👉

https://techpipeline.com/article/consortia-accelerate-in-the-face-of-new-challenges-and-opportunities/

AICUP has the buying power it does because this is the largest sector of higher education in , representing over 80 independent nonprofit and that educate nearly 280,000 students. Learn more about AICUP's cost-cutting 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺𝘀 and 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 👉

https://aicup.org/collaboration/

08/24/2026

New from NurseEducator.com: "Pennsylvania’s Collaborative Blueprint for Solving the Nursing Shortage." 🩺

👉 https://www.nurseeducator.com/articles/nursing-shortage-solutions-2026-08-08/

Quotes from the journal article: "The Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of ( ) represents 43 private nursing schools that educate almost 70% of Pennsylvania's four-year nursing students. This coalition scale is unprecedented in nursing education, showing what's possible when institutions unite. Their collective effort is a key reason the state avoided the predicted crisis."

"The 43-School Engine: AICUP's 43 member [nursing] schools have become the backbone of capacity expansion. By coordinating with dozens of partners, they've opened new programs, created tracks, and introduced options that funnel students directly into roles."



"these program expansions were central to defying the state’s predicted ." [including] "Reaching Rural and Communities" and " Student Programs." 🩺 👩‍⚕️ ⚕️

08/24/2026

AICUP schools are pivotal to the . 🚀 80+ independent nonprofit and help put at the frontier of . AICUP schools offer fields of study like , , space systems , science, , , and . Campus space-related programs include radio astronomy instrumentation, physics and plasma space technologies, and space robotics and research, while capsules designed on campuses include the Iris Lunar Rover and . member schools forged hundreds of industry partnerships, including with the Keystone Space Collaborative. The jobs of tomorrow start right here. ✨ 🛰️ 💫 🔭 🪐

08/21/2026

While Pennsylvania still faces a shortage of nurses, the worst predictions made two years ago haven’t materialized. A new report from the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Pennsylvania claims those doomy forecasts were averted largely because of efforts made by its 43 nursing...

08/18/2026

“𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆.” August kicks off college application season, and each year, students leave money on the table that could help fund their education. Here at the independent nonprofit colleges of Pennsylvania ( ), the schools themselves fund the largest proportion of student aid in the form of college and (AICUP schools provide 90% of all financial grants first-year students receive). That's on top of the approximately $4.4 billion in federal Grants that go unused nationwide by students who don't complete their , and another $129 million that goes unused in when students don't complete the State Grant ( ).

🌎 Find an AICUP or near you to learn more; use the map here to find more than 80 options in Pennsylvania:
https://aicup.org/about-us/members/

💡 AICUP value dashboard with facts on affordability, rankings, and :
https://aicup.org/communications/dashboard/

🎓 Student video series: "You can afford college"
https://youtu.be/752qm1KZ0Sc?si=pEuZKCgRWHTBocyT

9 students share how to make college affordable, in their own words...