Lincoln Christian College in Illinois will shut on the finish of the educational yr, and its seminary shall be acquired by Ozark Cristian Faculty, The State-Journal Register reported Thursday.
The non-public Christian school has struggled with enrollment in recent times, main it to trim workers and nonministry diploma choices and lower athletics applications in an unsuccessful effort to proper the ship. Directors advised the newspaper that the college was additionally affected by the 2022 closure of unaffiliated Lincoln College —additionally in Illinois—which triggered confusion amongst potential college students given the same names.
Lincoln Christian College enrolled 537 college students in fall 2021, in line with the Division of Schooling’s Built-in Postsecondary Schooling Information System. That quantity is down from 672 college students in fall 2019, the final semester earlier than the coronavirus pandemic hit the U.S. and prompted a slowdown in enrollment nationwide. A decade in the past, LCU enrolled 997 college students.
Lincoln Christian College joins plenty of different establishments which have introduced closures this yr, together with Alderson Broaddus University, Alliance University, Cabrini University, Cardinal Stritch University, Finlandia University, Hodges University, Holy Names University, Iowa Wesleyan University, Medaille University, Presentation College and numerous for-profit faculties.
Fitch Ratings and Moody’s Investors Service have each predicted extra school closures, mergers and reorganizations to come back because the sector navigates challenges together with stagnant enrollment, wage progress, inflation, rising operational prices and different financial issues.
