Toronto's Randolph College for the Performing Arts is closing its doors, according to CBC News Toronto. The broadcaster reported that the institution, which has operated on Bathurst Street since 1992, is shutting down after failing to renew its accreditation, and that as a result it can no longer legally operate as a career college.
CBC News Toronto reported that students were informed of the closure in an email this week. The school, which specializes in musical theatre, acting and dance, told students that it had failed to renew its accreditation with the Ministry of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security, and that it could no longer function as a college.
For students partway through their programs, the news landed hard. One student told CBC News Toronto that Randolph was her dream school, that she cried very hard and for a very long time, and that she now has to figure out what to do with her future and her education after the place she trained at is gone.
According to CBC News Toronto, students were told they would be supported either to continue their studies at a different school or to receive a partial refund for their fees. The school's tuition runs around $13,000 per academic year, an amount students and parents said they would not have paid had they known this outcome was coming.
Parents and students told CBC News Toronto that the school did not communicate appropriately after first losing its status as a college in February. They described what they called false hope promises stretching from February onward, with repeated assurances that the issue would be fixed in two weeks, before the notice of closure finally arrived.
CBC News Toronto reported that the school had planned to take in a new cohort in September, and that its website was still welcoming applications. In a statement, the Ministry of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security said it had reached out to the college but did not hear back. The broadcaster noted that several post-secondary theatre programs have been scaling back or shutting down in recent years.