Valley Forge Military Academy is to close at school year's end

Max Marin, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Sep 15, 2025

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The nearly century-old Valley Forge Military Academy is set to close for good in May, following years of declining enrollment, numerous abuse scandals, and allegations of financial mismanagement.

In a statement posted online Monday, the board of trustees said the academy's future "is no longer viable" due to rising tuition costs and soaring liability premiums.

"Together, these factors made the Academy's future unsustainable," the trustees wrote.

The announced closure sparked outrage from parents and alumni who have vocally questioned leadership at the academy, a once-elite boys boarding school for grades seven through 12. Founded in 1928 in Wayne, VFMA's notable alumni include Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, retired Lt. Gen. and former National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster, current Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, and author J.D. Salinger.

Trustees made clear that the Valley Forge Military College will continue operating a two-year associate's program on the Main Line campus. School leaders split the academy and college into two separate financial entities last year.

The Inquirer in recent weeks repeatedly attempted to reach VFMA leaders to discuss the school's financial position and received no response. A request for an interview on Monday went unreturned.

The closure follows decades of allegations of brutal hazing and sexual abuse, which has led to a barrage of lawsuits over the years.

New lawsuits are still being filed, including by a cadet who alleged that he was penetrated anally and another who said higher ranking cadets held him down and "cut the initials of Valley Forge Military Academy" into his shoulder.

"[T]he extraordinary number and nature of incidents of sexual abuse and hazing are not what is most shocking," read a lawsuit filed in Delaware County last year. "What is most shocking is that VFMAC has known about these abuses for years and instead of addressing the problem has instead sought to cover it up."

The academy has denied the allegations in court filings.

In addition, parents reported concerns about a new "fight club" in the barracks as recently as this spring, which they blamed on a lack of supervision, according to emails obtained by The Inquirer.

Meanwhile, tuition costs spiked to more than $49,000 a year as enrollment has continued to plummet. The military academy recorded just 150 students in the 2023 academic year, according to nonprofit financial disclosures filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Alumni have said annual enrollment was as high as 750 students in the 1980s.

Amid rising tuition and legal costs, the school's finances became increasingly unstable, and parents complained about crumbling campus buildings. School administrators began selling off pieces of the historic campus and licensed its academic brand to a private school in Doha, Qatar, as an additional revenue generator.

Trustees also began making personal loans to cover the school's operating expenses, according to financial disclosure reports.

Will Perdigon, an electrician from Delaware County, credited the academy with turning his son's academic life around as a freshman last year. But come 2025, the father saw warning signs of a financial death spiral.

The marching band leader was let go. The admissions team was downsized. Teachers began sending worried emails to parents.

"This is a sinking ship," Perdigon said. "I'd call the school and I'd get very vague answers about it."

Faced with uncertainty, he pulled his son from the academy in August.

Alastair Crosbie, who graduated from Valley Forge in 1990, blamed an out-of-touch board of trustees that insisted on micromanaging the academy but failed to address major problems as they arose. That led to frequent litigation.

"It's like the movie Grumpy Old Men. They couldn't get out of their own way," said Crosbie, now a fraud investigator for an insurance company.

In a video update to parents this year, Col. Stuart B. Helgeson, president of the academy and college, said that the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, an accrediting body, required the academy and college to split apart for legal reasons back in 2022.

But he projected confidence in the school's overall financial situation, giving a virtual tour of rehabilitated campus facilities and a new baseball field — albeit made possible with support from private donors.

"I wanted to show some progress," Helgeson said. "We raised over $2 million for the third year in a row."