Dive Brief:
- Seattle University intends to acquire the Cornish College of the Arts, the two institutions announced Thursday.
- Under the plan, the private nonprofit arts institution would become “Cornish College of the Arts at Seattle University” and remain at its campus in Seattle’s South Lake Union neighborhood.
- The colleges signed a letter of intent but are still working toward a final deal, which would require regulatory and accreditor approval. They expect for the acquisition to begin by May 2025 and be fully completed around May 2026.
Dive Insight:
Seattle University, a private Catholic institution, and Cornish framed their planned combination as an expansion of opportunities for students at both institutions. Those opportunities, they said, would include “innovative interdisciplinary learning across fields such as computer science, business and the fine arts.”
Cornish is less than a tenth of the size of its prospective partner. In 2022, the arts college had a fall headcount of just 443 students, down nearly a third from five years prior. Seattle University had 7,121 students in fall 2022, a moderate decline — 2.2% — from 2017.
For the 2023 fiscal year, Cornish reported a total operating deficit of $2.7 million while its cash assets fell by more than half to $2.4 million. Seattle University also booked a deficit that fiscal year, of $3.9 million, though it has a much larger revenue and asset base.
As of May 2023, Cornish had about $54.1 million in property on its balance sheet and long-term debt of $12.3 million.
Cornish’s history extends back some 110 years, when it was founded by pianist and teacher Nellie Cornish. Today its offerings run the artistic gamut, with programs in visual art, dance, design, music, media and film, theater and other areas.
Seattle University lacks a dedicated fine arts school, though it offers a limited number of fine arts degrees as well as other degrees in arts topics.
However, the university has plans to expand its reach into the arts. Months before the letter of intent with Cornish, Seattle University announced a donation of an art collection valued at $300 million — the largest such gift to a U.S. university, the institution said — to build an art museum on campus.
“Expanding opportunities for arts education at Seattle University reflects the long-standing Jesuit commitment to integrating the visual and performing arts into the educational experience,” the institution said in Thursday’s release.
The acquisition also comes during a tough time for private arts colleges. The sudden collapse of University of the Arts in Philadelphia was particularly dramatic. The Delaware College of Art and Design also folded this year. Additionally, California College of the Arts reportedly has been wrestling with a massive deficit and sharp enrollment decline, and has mulled a potential merger.
As they work on a definitive deal, Seattle University plans to run a “thorough due diligence review of Cornish’s finances, holdings and assets, operations, compliance and legal obligations.”
The colleges expect Seattle University to take control by the end of May 2025. For a transition period of about a year after that, Cornish would likely keep its own degree-granting authority and retain its current accreditation. During that time, the two institutions would begin merging their administrative support operations, they said.
