Some college students returning to Philadelphia this fall will find that their studies come with one less perk. Over the summer, the Philadelphia Museum of Art ended its program that offered free admission to art students at eight colleges and universities in the city.
The change went into affect on July 1st. In a letter, the museum cited the growing number of institutions offering fine arts and art history degrees. The museum could not afford to extend the program and decided that it was unfair to offer the free admission to only the students who attend the universities that have historically been a part of the program.
The Philadelphia Museum of Art has implemented a new student admission price of $14. The museum says that this also makes the institution more accessible for students in every discipline. In October, students from any school can become members of the museum for a discounted price of $20. Students who attend the impacted schools can take advantage of this membership offer until December 31, 2019. Further, the museum offers a Pay What You Wish admission rate on the first Sunday of every month and every Wednesday between 5:00 pm and 8:45 pm.
However, many classes at the eight universities that received free admission required museum visits as part of their curriculum. According to an administrator the Tyler School of Art and Architecture and Temple University, the colleges are collaborating to try to get the museum to reconsider the decision.
The eight colleges affected by this change are:
- Art Institute of Philadelphia (before the school closed in 2018)
- Community College of Philadelphia
- Drexel University (art students only)
- Moore College of Art & Design
- Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
- Philadelphia University (now part of Thomas Jefferson University)
- Tyler School of Art and Architecture at Temple University
- University of the Arts
- University of Pennsylvania (art students only)