Nation’s oldest black college has plan to address money woes

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The nation’s oldest historically black college, which has struggled with plummeting enrollment and financial woes, has announced a plan intended to balance the school’s budget and lure new, top-tier students.

Cheyney University president Aaron Walton has outlined an ambitious fundraising campaign and sweeping changes to the school’s business model.

At a news conference Tuesday, he vowed to balance the school’s budget by June 30.

Among the revenue-generating plans is an environmental company’s commitment to set up a new headquarters at Cheyney, and Thomas Jefferson University’s plans to build a medical facility on the campus about 30 miles (50 kilometers) west of Philadelphia.

The announcements come weeks after the chancellor of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education told state senators that struggling Cheyney was likely to lose accreditation.