2018 Education

2018 EDUCATION MAGAZINE LINCOLN DAILY NEWS MARCH 1, 2018 Page 45 A bright future for Lincoln College, its students, and the community F ounded in 1865 by the Cumberland Presbyterian Churches as a Bachelor and Master degree granting college, Lincoln College is the only college still in existence named for Abraham Lincoln while he was still living. In 1929, Lincoln College became a two-year college offering associate degrees and began reshaping its mission. President David Gerlach said for many years, Lincoln College was a private college of choice for those who needed an opportunity for a solid start. In 2015, when President Gerlach came to interview at Lincoln College, he presented what they had done at the college he worked with in New York. It was a two-year college that was converted to a baccalaureate college. Gerlach said he found it odd that bachelor’s degrees are being offered at the Bloomington Normal Campus. He said the school should bring bachelor’s degrees down to Lincoln because it was the most expensive two-year college, but as a four- year college would be very comparable at the public level and would position Lincoln College as the lowest priced private college. This suggestion helped him get hired. Gerlach said when he was hired, Lincoln College was trying to be “all things to all people” and he felt that staying a private two-year college should have changed years ago. When he became president the college had significant debt, but that debt is decreasing as the college has trimmed and cut back. The college received a $2.25 million Title III grant from the federal government to strengthen tutoring, academics, and support for students. CONTINUED →