Following a nearly four-month evaluation, Lower Merion-based St. Joseph’s University and University of the Sciences has voted to proceed with the merger, writes Susan Snyder for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The merger is expected to be completed in about a year after completing around a dozen federal and state regulatory and accreditation reviews or filings.

The boards and presidents of the two private universities have all voted for and signed an agreement that is being kept confidential.

According to both presidents, their confidential review of legal, academic, and financial issues did not reveal anything that would cause the two schools to change course.

“The public and our constituencies know that this is the right move,” said Mark C. Reed, president of St. Joe’s. “This is going to be one of the defining moves, hopefully, for the next 20 or 30 years.”

The 200-year-old University of Sciences will merge into St. Joseph’s. The newly merged entity will bear the name of the 170-year-old Jesuit institution.

Meanwhile, USciences’ historic Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Samson College of Health Science will continue as academic institutions within St. Joe’s.

Read more about the merger in The Philadelphia Inquirer.