Harrison College Closes

Harrison College abruptly closed last week.  Harrison was headquartered in Indianapolis and offered programs through ten sites in Indiana: Anderson, Columbus, Elkhart, Evansville, Fort Wayne, Indianapolis (3), Lafayette, and Terre Haute.  Two additional sites in Morrisville, NC and Grove City, OH will also close.

The history of Harrison College is traced to Marion, IN and Marion Business College that began operation in the 1890s.  Marion Business College served as the initial institution in 1902 for what later became known as Indiana Business College.  Logansport Business College was purchased and Kokomo Business College was begun in 1902. IBC grew in the early 20th century to include other schools that operated under their respective names or collectively as IBC: Municie Business College, Anderson Business College, Columbus Business College, Richmond Business College, Lafayette Business College, Crawfordsville Business College, Washington Business College, Newcastle Business College, Vincennes Business College, and Central Business College in Indianapolis. The name changed to Harrison College in 2009.

WSYX-TV in Columbus, OH reported, "Students outraged Harrison College closing without warning," and WISH-TV of Indianapolis posted, "Harrison College to close after 116 years."

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.