(03-31-2022 03:04 PM)dbackjon Wrote:  

(03-31-2022 01:35 PM)johnintx Wrote:  Lincoln College (IL) is closing at the end of the spring semester. They are an NAIA school in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference. Statement appears on the school's website landing page:

https://lincolncollege.edu/

Local news story: https://www.week.com/2022/03/30/lincoln-...157-years/

I had confused it at first with Lincoln Christian College in the same town, which is dropping varsity athletics and reverting to its original focus as a Bible college. Lincoln College is a separate school.

That is sad - I grew up in that area. That's two small colleges in the area that have recently closed

In the past last few years, it’s quite a list of college athletic programs in Illinois that are gone.

Morthland College
Benedictine-Springfield
Robert Morris-Springfield
Lindenwood-Belleville
Robert Morris Chicago
Robert Morris-Peoria
MacMurray College
Lincoln Christian
Lincoln College

Illinois has put schools in financial troubles

(04-01-2022 12:56 AM)Illiniguy Wrote:  Illinois has put schools in financial troubles

How has Illinois put the private schools into financial trouble?


Illinois has seen flat population growth, and like many areas of the country, rural areas are suffering population declines - less students to go around.

(03-31-2022 10:58 PM)Todor Wrote:  

(03-31-2022 03:04 PM)dbackjon Wrote:  

(03-31-2022 01:35 PM)johnintx Wrote:  Lincoln College (IL) is closing at the end of the spring semester. They are an NAIA school in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference. Statement appears on the school's website landing page:

https://lincolncollege.edu/

Local news story: https://www.week.com/2022/03/30/lincoln-...157-years/

I had confused it at first with Lincoln Christian College in the same town, which is dropping varsity athletics and reverting to its original focus as a Bible college. Lincoln College is a separate school.

That is sad - I grew up in that area. That's two small colleges in the area that have recently closed

In the past last few years, it’s quite a list of college athletic programs in Illinois that are gone.

Morthland College
Benedictine-Springfield
Robert Morris-Springfield
Lindenwood-Belleville
Robert Morris Chicago
Robert Morris-Peoria
MacMurray College
Lincoln Christian
Lincoln College

Of those, only a couple (MacMurray, Lincoln College, Benedictine-Springfield) would be considered traditional. Others were branches that tried to use sports as a way keep/grow branch commuter/non-traditional campuses alive

Also, MacMurray was in a small, remote rural town (Jacksonville, IL) with 2 colleges, which never should have happened to begin with.

(04-01-2022 01:28 PM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  Also, MacMurray was in a small, remote rural town (Jacksonville, IL) with 2 colleges, which never should have happened to begin with.

Both Illinois College and MacMurray drew from the surrounding towns, all which have experienced population decline, as has Jacksonville.

There WERE enough HS students to support two colleges, just not anymore.

Disclaimer - my brother got his nursing degree at MacMurray, and my Mom taught classes at IC years ago.

Morthland was a USCAA member working to get their regional accreditations before they can apply to join the NAIA. They lost accreditations, got booted along with Ohio Mid-Western. Both schools' goals were to join the NAIA. I noticed that Ohio-Mid-Western, Cincinnati Christian and another Ohio private school all closed down in a matter of years in the same city metro of Cincinnati.

(04-01-2022 12:03 PM)dbackjon Wrote:  

(03-31-2022 10:58 PM)Todor Wrote:  

(03-31-2022 03:04 PM)dbackjon Wrote:  

(03-31-2022 01:35 PM)johnintx Wrote:  Lincoln College (IL) is closing at the end of the spring semester. They are an NAIA school in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference. Statement appears on the school's website landing page:

https://lincolncollege.edu/

Local news story: https://www.week.com/2022/03/30/lincoln-...157-years/

I had confused it at first with Lincoln Christian College in the same town, which is dropping varsity athletics and reverting to its original focus as a Bible college. Lincoln College is a separate school.

That is sad - I grew up in that area. That's two small colleges in the area that have recently closed

In the past last few years, it’s quite a list of college athletic programs in Illinois that are gone.

Morthland College
Benedictine-Springfield
Robert Morris-Springfield
Lindenwood-Belleville
Robert Morris Chicago
Robert Morris-Peoria
MacMurray College
Lincoln Christian
Lincoln College

Of those, only a couple (MacMurray, Lincoln College, Benedictine-Springfield) would be considered traditional. Others were branches that tried to use sports as a way keep/grow branch commuter/non-traditional campuses alive

Not accurate.

(04-01-2022 03:47 PM)Todor Wrote:  

(04-01-2022 12:03 PM)dbackjon Wrote:  

(03-31-2022 10:58 PM)Todor Wrote:  

(03-31-2022 03:04 PM)dbackjon Wrote:  

(03-31-2022 01:35 PM)johnintx Wrote:  Lincoln College (IL) is closing at the end of the spring semester. They are an NAIA school in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference. Statement appears on the school's website landing page:

https://lincolncollege.edu/

Local news story: https://www.week.com/2022/03/30/lincoln-...157-years/

I had confused it at first with Lincoln Christian College in the same town, which is dropping varsity athletics and reverting to its original focus as a Bible college. Lincoln College is a separate school.

That is sad - I grew up in that area. That's two small colleges in the area that have recently closed

In the past last few years, it’s quite a list of college athletic programs in Illinois that are gone.

Morthland College
Benedictine-Springfield
Robert Morris-Springfield
Lindenwood-Belleville
Robert Morris Chicago
Robert Morris-Peoria
MacMurray College
Lincoln Christian
Lincoln College

Of those, only a couple (MacMurray, Lincoln College, Benedictine-Springfield) would be considered traditional. Others were branches that tried to use sports as a way keep/grow branch commuter/non-traditional campuses alive

Not accurate.

Oh please educate me on what is not accurate.

I think we’ll see a few more closings within the next two months as applications are due.

(04-01-2022 01:28 PM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  Also, MacMurray was in a small, remote rural town (Jacksonville, IL) with 2 colleges, which never should have happened to begin with.

will be interesting to see if these small towns will survive as colleges and prisons, close. I can think of a few towns that are supported by the employment of colleges, prisons, and manufacturing factories.

Well Jacksonville made it work. As for my comment earlier Illinois’s financial issues made it harder for the Public colleges along with declining enrollment due to decline in population. Most kids here don’t wanna go to schools in Illinois. It’s not cheap to live here to begin with.

(04-01-2022 06:57 PM)Pastasevensamurai Wrote:  I think we’ll see a few more closings within the next two months as applications are due.

I agree. The last 5 years or so have been especially brutal to small colleges that were already just getting by. I expected Covid to be a nail in the coffin for some but it seems like they mostly got the money to survivor it but then it’s catching up with them now.

I expect some conferences will end up looking much different when some pieces fall out and they end up taking new schools to survive.

For example, I’d expect Iowa Wesleyan to end up in the American Midwest after Lyon left, and now possibly Hannibal LaGrange. This is on top of having a couple of former members mentioned in my list above. Wild times.

D2 Bloomfield looking to make a deal to merge with D3 Montclair State.

Bloomfield Partners With Montclair State


If they do merge with Bloomfield and their sports? Could Montclair State become D2 to take their place as part of the merger?

In the last two decades, the NYC and Philadelphia areas have lost seven D2 programs (Cheyney, Concordia, Dowling, LIU Post, New York Tech, Southampton, USciences) to closures, athletic suspensions, athletic mergers, or full mergers. Bloomfield would make it eight.

The unfortunate truth is we have too many colleges and universities out there and some that have outlived their purpose. I’m actually shocked that we aren’t seeing more closures than we are.

(04-02-2022 07:35 AM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  The unfortunate truth is we have too many colleges and universities out there and some that have outlived their purpose. I’m actually shocked that we aren’t seeing more closures than we are.

From a purely economic standpoint you are correct

Colleges are one of the institutions that don’t necessarily follow pure economics

You have town governments and city governments with a vested interest in keeping those employment centers alive plus the prestige of having a college in your town.
You also have many alumni who are willing to sink good money into bad because of the emotional attachment they have to their college

(04-02-2022 10:38 AM)dbackjon Wrote:  

(04-02-2022 07:35 AM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  The unfortunate truth is we have too many colleges and universities out there and some that have outlived their purpose. I’m actually shocked that we aren’t seeing more closures than we are.

From a purely economic standpoint you are correct

Colleges are one of the institutions that don’t necessarily follow pure economics

You have town governments and city governments with a vested interest in keeping those employment centers alive plus the prestige of having a college in your town.
You also have many alumni who are willing to sink good money into bad because of the emotional attachment they have to their college

Right. And that’s why a lot of schools that should close stay open. The folks reaping the financial benefits don’t want to see their cash cow slaughtered so they use political pressure to keep them going. That’s why we still have a Chicago St.

(04-02-2022 02:40 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  

(04-02-2022 10:38 AM)dbackjon Wrote:  

(04-02-2022 07:35 AM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  The unfortunate truth is we have too many colleges and universities out there and some that have outlived their purpose. I’m actually shocked that we aren’t seeing more closures than we are.

From a purely economic standpoint you are correct

Colleges are one of the institutions that don’t necessarily follow pure economics

You have town governments and city governments with a vested interest in keeping those employment centers alive plus the prestige of having a college in your town.
You also have many alumni who are willing to sink good money into bad because of the emotional attachment they have to their college

Right. And that’s why a lot of schools that should close stay open. The folks reaping the financial benefits don’t want to see their cash cow slaughtered so they use political pressure to keep them going. That’s why we still have a Chicago St.

It's also that losing the local college can be the start of a death spiral. If the college closes, you lose a couple hundred jobs and people move away. Then the rural hospital closes because there are fewer people, things get more expensive, and the healthcare economic situation sucks, too. And more people leave. And now you can't support your own high school, so it's less appealing for people to live in town if their kids have to travel 30-45 minutes to school. And even more people leave, and now your main street is a ghost town and you have an isolated, aging population.

That doesn't apply to Chicago State, but it applies to a lot of small town America.

(04-02-2022 02:29 AM)Inkblot Wrote:  In the last two decades, the NYC and Philadelphia areas have lost seven D2 programs (Cheyney, Concordia, Dowling, LIU Post, New York Tech, Southampton, USciences) to closures, athletic suspensions, athletic mergers, or full mergers. Bloomfield would make it eight.

You also have a school in D2 in Conneticutt talking about a merger, you have the D3 school in Deleware merged with Deleware State, and several schools closed or merged in Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.