The King’s College, an evangelical liberal arts school in New York City that has struggled to pay its bills, vowed to reopen as its accreditation expired Thursday.

Accreditation certifies that a college meets academic standards recognized by the Department of Education.

The Middle States Commission on Higher Education announced last week that King’s College, which is not offering fall classes, would lose its accreditation at the end of August after failing to submit a “required substantive change request for institutional closure.”

In a statement shared Thursday with The Washington Times, school leaders pledged to challenge the decision as they seek “a long-term solution” to keep the school alive.

“The King’s College Board of Trustees and senior administration continue to contend for the College’s future and remain actively engaged in discussions regarding potential strategic alliances,” the statement read.

“King’s leadership appreciates the ongoing prayers and support of our community,” it added.

Historian Joseph Loconte, who taught Western Civilization and American foreign policy at King’s College from 2009 to 2020, said it would be “a great loss” if the school closed permanently.

“The loss of the King’s College would mean there is no college in New York City devoted to transmitting the classical-Christian inheritance of the West to the next generation,” Mr. Loconte, a presidential scholar in residence at New College of Florida, told The Times on Thursday. “And that would be a tragedy, given the cultural importance and intense secularity of New York.”

According to the accrediting commission, the school failed to update its public financial disclosures and pay its dues and fees.

The commission withdrew accreditation from King’s College on May 26, prompting the private school to appeal in June as it sought new financial backers.

Last month, the commission said it would “consider the institution closed and no longer operational” after King’s College announced it would not hold classes in the fall semester.

The Christian school has undergone multiple transformations and financial struggles since its 1938 founding in New Jersey.

The campus moved to Delaware in 1941 and to Briarcliff Manor, New York, in 1955.

After the school closed in 1994 amid financial difficulties, the evangelical ministry Campus Crusade for Christ took control. King’s College reopened in 1999 in Manhattan and became independent of Campus Crusade, now known as Cru, in 2012.

Prominent conservative author and pundit Dinesh D’Souza led the school from 2010 to 2012.

• Sean Salai can be reached at ssalai@washingtontimes.com.