CONCORDIA CLOSES ITS DOORS

Exactly 115 years since it opened, Concordia University of Portland is closing its doors, after Spring Term 2020 – citing “[Y]ears of mounting financial challenges, and a challenging and changing educational landscape,” according to the Feb. 10 closure update on the university’s website.

All staff members and students will be greatly affected by the closure. Students who wish to continue their education will be assisted by the college to transfer credits and to enroll at different institutions, according to Concordia officials.  

Last week the university brought representatives from other Christian and private colleges, as well as public colleges and universities, to the campus in northeast Portland. Concordia students had spent the earlier part of February protesting their discontent with the university’s decision.

 The students I spoke to after the surprising announcement said they were unhappy with the university’s handling of the news, including the abrupt way it was made public. One second-year student, My Tungkongnuch said that “(the announcement) was heartbreaking for everyone including the staff, because we all heard it the same day.” Students were also angry about the lack of transparency between the Board of Regents and the student body, since they were previously told that the financial issues weren’t going to affect their education or tuition.  

The university will continue to hold information sessions until early March. The next one is for the University of Honolulu’s nursing program. To assist faculty and staff members, Concordia will hold job fairs from a variety of institutions, colleges and universities.

Concordia University in St. Paul, Minnesota, will be the parent institution for the school of law; the transfer for this is supposed to be as smooth as possible.

As for MHCC, the college’s nursing program extended its application deadline to late February in order to help potential transfers by Concordia nursing students.

The academic records of students will be preserved even after the closure, Concordia officials say. Any degrees that alumni have received will still be of value and transfer credits will still be regionally accredited, but transfer opportunities will have to be figured out with the receiving institution, officials say.

Again, it’s emphasized that Spring Term 2020 will be the final term for academic instruction. 

The 24-acre campus itself will return to the ownership of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod upon closure, where it will seek a buyer for the property.