Illinois colleges prepare to welcome students from soon-to-close Lincoln College

[April 19, 2022]  By Kevin Bessler | The Center Square

(The Center Square) – After the stunning announcement that Lincoln College will close this spring after 157 years, other colleges in Illinois are making plans to welcome their students.

Lincoln College President David Gerlach told employees in an email that the institution named after Abraham Lincoln will close its doors for good May 13.

“It makes me sad, and one of the jokes I’ve shared to try to bring levity is COVID equals John Wilkes Booth for Lincoln College,” Gerlach said.

The pandemic and a December cyber attack originating in Iran that caused a system outage for more than a month prevented the school from making enough money to continue operations.

State Rep. Tim Butler, R-Springfield, introduced a measure late in the spring session that encourages other schools around the state to take in Lincoln College students.

“So what this resolution does is express our sense as a legislature to urge all the public and private universities in Illinois to extend their deadlines to accept Lincoln College students for next fall and honor their credits that they earned at Lincoln College,” Butler said.

Several schools have responded by offering agreements with Lincoln College transfer students, including Western Illinois University, Eureka College, and Illinois Wesleyan University.

“As our colleagues at Lincoln College work to support their students with transitional services, we at Illinois Wesleyan, as will our fellow institutions, are working to create opportunities for a seamless transfer to carry forward Lincoln students’ educational goals,” President Georgia Nugent said.

Some are hoping for a miracle to keep the school open. Gerlach told the Chicago Tribune that $50 million is necessary to secure the future of the predominantly Black institution.

A GoFundMe campaign with a goal of $20 million had tallied just $1,150 as of Monday.

The story of Lincoln College is not a unique one. In recent years, 27 Illinois colleges, satellite campuses and other professional schools have shut down, according to the Illinois Board of Higher Education.

Kevin Bessler reports on statewide issues in Illinois for the Center Square. He has over 30 years of experience in radio news reporting throughout the Midwest.