Concordia College Alabama will Close

The Selma Times-Journal published this week that, "Concordia College Alabama to close at the end of spring semester."  Reporter Blake Deshazo visited with Dr. James Lyons, chief transition officer and interim president for the college, who had shared the news with faculty, staff, and students on Wednesday.  Concordia is a historically black Lutheran College with approximately 400 students.

Deshazo of The Times-Journal previously reported the institution was facing financial pressure on February 6, 2018 that "Concordia College in need of investors to remain open."

The institution was founded as Alabama Lutheran Academy & College in 1922.  Alabama Luther College graduated its first class of four women in 1926, but discontinued the college program for a time during the Depression and it was renamed Alabama Lutheran Academy.  College coursework was added back and the name changed to Alabama Lutheran Academy and College.   Then in 1981, the name was changed to Concordia College.

Concordia received accreditation as an associate-degree granting institution by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) in 1983. In 1994, SACS granted Concordia accreditation as a bachelor’s degree granting institution. Concordia continued to grow and in 2010 it acquired the property of the United Methodist Children’s Home, expanded the size of the campus from 22 acres to 57, as well as adding additional housing and historic buildings.

If you are interested in recent trends for closures, mergers,and acquisitions access College Closures since 2009 in the index at the right of any College History Garden page.  There are separate tabs for non-profit closures, for-profit closures, and one for mergers and acquisitions.  Each tab includes basic information for the institutions, i.e., Carnegie Classification, sector, accrediting agency, and the IPEDS unitid.