NEW BRUNSWICK — Rutgers University's accrediting agency will announce later this week that it has approved the school's takeover of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, clearing one of the last major hurdles before the two institutions merge, campus officials said.

The Middle States Commission on Higher Education, the accrediting agency that oversees both schools, gave its blessing for the merger late last week and plans to announce its decision in the next few days, said Christopher Molloy, Rutgers’ interim provost for biomedical and health sciences, who is overseeing the merger planning.

"They basically cleared everything," Molloy said. "They think we are on track to handle this from an accrediting perspective."

Under legislation signed by Gov. Chris Christie last summer, UMDNJ will be dissolved. Rutgers will take over nearly all of UMDNJ's medical, dental and health science schools on July 1. Rowan University in Glassboro will take over UMDNJ's medical school in South Jersey. University Hospital in Newark, currently part of UMDNJ, will be spun off as a free-standing institution.

The complex reorganization, which involves transferring students, property and debt, required the approval of Middle States or the schools risked losing accreditation. If Rutgers failed to get Middle States' blessing by April, the university's students could have lost federal financial aid and international students may have been barred from enrolling.

Richard Pokrass, a spokesman for Middle States, said the accrediting agency's website will update Rutgers' accreditation status later this week.

Rutgers officials said they were informed Middle States' accreditors approved all aspects of the reorganization, including the complex changes to the governing boards that oversee Rutgers.

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"The commission has agreed to include within the scope of Rutgers’ accreditation the integration of the entities coming into Rutgers from UMDNJ and the governance changes outlined in the New Jersey Medical and Health Sciences Education Restructuring Act,” Rutgers officials said in a statement.

Middle States will require Rutgers to file a follow up report in December 2014, Molloy said. The accreditors want to check on several unanswered questions, including whether University Hospital will be financially stable once it splits UMDNJ. The Newark hospital will remain a teaching site for Rutgers' students after the merger.

University Hospital announced last week it is looking for a partner to help run the facility after the split.

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Rutgers officials said the rest of merger appears to be on track. Dozens of campus officials working on the merger have outlined nearly 4,600 tasks that need to be completed so Rutgers and UMDNJ can merge in July without interrupting students' educations or the care of patients. So far, about 2,300 tasks are finished.

"Everything is coming together quite well," Molloy said.

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