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Paier College of Art is cutting part of its name and moving to Bridgeport, Conn., it said Monday, the latest step in a complex multi-institution deal announced last summer to turn the University of Bridgeport’s campus into a university park.
The for-profit Paier College of Art is changing its name to Paier College. The change comes as it expects regulatory approval to take on bachelor's degrees in industrial design, digital marketing, mass communication and marketing that are currently offered at the University of Bridgeport. Leaders plan to complete the roughly 23-mile relocation from its current location in Hamden, Conn., to Bridgeport before the fall semester.
After it relocates, Paier plans to occupy the nine-story Arnold Bernhard Center for Arts & Humanities and the 140-bed Cooper Hall Dormitory, along with two more buildings on the southwest side of the University of Bridgeport’s campus.
"As we evaluated the best path forward to achieve our long-term goals, it became clear that changing our name to embrace the growth of our programs and relocating to Bridgeport would offer the greatest benefits to our current and future students and faculty," said Joseph M. Bierbaum, president of Paier College, in a statement.
The developments follow a plan announced in June to have two private nonprofit institutions, Goodwin University and Sacred Heart University, join Paier to acquire the assets of another nonprofit university, the financially challenged Bridgeport University. Those in the deal had to alter their plans in October after Sacred Heart withdrew.
But components of the arrangement have moved forward since, with a Goodwin acquisition making the University of Bridgeport an “independent institution under the Goodwin umbrella” winning accreditor approval in December.
