Alliance University, formerly Nyack College, closing down after losing accreditation

What's left of what was once Nyack College will close in August. The 140-year-old Alliance University, based in Manhattan, is losing its accreditation at the end of the year and plans to shut down.

The 140-year-old Christian nonprofit school has been in financial shambles for years. In 2018, the college announced that its South Nyack campus would be shuttered and sold. Students were given the option to relocate to the lower Manhattan campus.

The South Nyack campus is now owned by Yeshiva of Viznitz in Ramapo.

In 2022, Nyack College in Manhattan changed its name to Alliance University.

"This news is a tremendous loss for us who love Alliance University and the people here," a June 30 statement from the college reads. "We are all grieving."

An alum reflects

Bryan Burrell of Valley Cottage attended Nyack College from 1978 to 1982. He proposed to his wife, Lucy, on the top floor of Simpson Hall, with a beautiful moonlit view of the Tappan Zee Bridge over the Hudson.

"It really is very sad," said Burrell, senior pastor at Community Bible Church in Valley Cottage. "It's a series of choices."

Many alumni had questioned the leadership's decision to close and sell off the campus in South Nyack and go all-in with a Manhattan campus. Burrell understood that reticence. "Personally, I believe that the college could have made it at least as long in Rockland as it did in New York City," he said.

Burrell said he still drives along South Highland Avenue, and likes to see people using the space. "It had been a touchstone in our lives," Burrell said of the South Nyack campus. "In many ways, I felt that my alma mater had already disappeared."

Financial issues cited

The Middle States Commission on Higher Education has notified the college its accreditation is being withdrawn as of Dec. 31, 2023.

Continued financial troubles were cited by Middle States and by Alliance University. When the main campus for Nyack College was closed and put on the market, total debt was already documented in the tens of millions of dollars.

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AU's main campus is at 2 Washington St. in lower Manhattan, with satellite campuses in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and at Fishkill Correctional Center in Beacon.

Houghton University, between Buffalo and Rochester, has been designated as the final repository of all Alliance University student records.

Middle States has approved "teach-out" plans at more than a dozen colleges, including Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry. Such plans allow students access to complete their degrees.

Impact in Rockland

Nyack College's 107-acre campus, a fixture in the greater Nyack community, was the heart of the education and missionary institution founded by A.B. Simpson. The Missionary Alliance was a key part of the 20th century evangelist movement in New York.

But the college's financial situation had deteriorated and hoped-for big donors didn't step forward. Mortgages on the property built up and many buildings on the Hillside campus in South Nyack were in need of repair.

When the campus hit the market, many locals complained about the possibility of million-dollar homes cropping up on the site, which offers sweeping views of the Hudson.

The campus was sold in 2020 to the Yeshiva of Viznitz D'Khal Torath Chaim.

The potential impact of the property's sale on tiny South Nyack played a key role in residents' decision to disband the village in 2020 by referendum.

A look at AU

The college's current student body, according to Alliance University, comprises 1,063 undergraduates and 881 graduate students. AU boasts that 45% of its students are the first in their families to attend college. The college has been considered among the most diverse, with graduates coming from more than 90 countries.

"The people that remain, that are the legacy of the college, continue to be all over the world," Burrell said.

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According to U.S. Department of Education statistics, the average tuition paid by students is $22,000 annually; the institution has a 45% graduation rate.

The Board of Directors for the Christian and Missionary Alliance is still considering whether to maintain the Alliance Theological Seminary program, which is based in New York City with a satellite site in Puerto Rico.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Alliance University, once Nyack College, loses accreditation, will close