The King’s College, a small Christian school located just off Wall Street, is hoping for a miracle.
(Bloomberg) — The King’s College, a small Christian school located just off Wall Street, is hoping for a miracle.
The liberal arts college with under 400 students announced Wednesday that it was looking to partner with another Christian university to avoid shutting its doors for good. On May 26, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education said it was taking immediate action to withdraw accreditation from King’s, citing the “imminent danger of closing.”
The college has warned it needs to raise as much as $12 million to stay open, asking stakeholders to “prayerfully consider” donating. It has previously counted Bill Hwang, founder of Archegos Capital Management, and the late billionaires Richard and Helen DeVos as benefactors.
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Students and faculty were braced for King’s to say it had run out of options Wednesday, but the school’s board of trustees instead announced they’re working to “continue the college’s distinctive mission.” That could include a partnership with another school, the trustees said in an email seen by Bloomberg News.
Katelyn Tamm, a spokesperson for the college, did not respond to a phone call and email requesting comment.
Each year, a handful of small, private colleges go bust. Holy Names University, a Roman Catholic school in California with fewer than 1,000 students, announced it would close after the spring semester. Medaille University, a private university in Buffalo, New York, said will shut its doors later this summer.
Mergers and acquisitions are seen as a way to stave off such closures, but they aren’t always easy to implement because colleges often have different cultures that don’t mesh, said James Finkelstein, an emeritus public policy professor at George Mason University in Virginia. He said that King’s may be delaying the inevitable, and that puts students at risk if they haven’t made plans to transfer.
“It’s a tragic story but one that’s happening increasingly in higher education and will continue to happen around the country, especially for these small institutions with specialized missions,” Finkelstein said.
The school’s trustees said on Wednesday they were “cultivating effective fundraising opportunities with new and old donors.” King’s said it would provide another update by June 16.
“We have seen God move, consistent with His providence and protection over The King’s College’s 85-year history,” the email said.
–With assistance from Brandon Sapienza.
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