A college in suburban Palos Heights is closing after the current academic year, citing financial challenges in a recent announcement.
Trinity Chrisitan College, located at 6601 West College Drive in Palos Heights, will close after 66 years due to declining enrollment, fewer donors and persistent deficits, school leaders said.
“Like many small, private universities across the country, we have been financially impacted by fast-evolving economic and cultural realities: post-Covid financial losses; persistent operating deficits; a decline in college enrollment and increased competition for students; and a shift in donor giving and financial circumstances,” the school’s website says.
Students told NBC Chicago they were surprised and upset by the closure.
“It was a shock, I woke up and it was just like we got the email the school was closing down,” said Zachary Coppin, an international student who is a senior at the college. “I’ve seen a lot of tears, people comforting each other, things like that.”
The school released a video explaining the closure on their website.
Jeanine Mozie, Acting President of Trinity Christian College and Ken Dryfhout, Chair of the Board of Trustees, speak about the school’s decision to close in the video.
“After a period of intense deliberation and prayerful discernment, the Board of Trustees has voted to close Trinity Christian College at the end of this academic year,” Dryfhout said.
The school’s board of trustees “worked faithfully and tirelessly to consider every possible option in the face of significant and rapidly evolving financial challenges,” Mozie said in the video. “However, there is no sustainable path forward for our beloved institution.”
Alternatives such as “significant programmatic changes, strategic partnerships, and the like” were considered by the school said it was determined the options were insufficient to overcome their deficit while still sustaining its mission.
“This decision was not taken lightly,” said Dryfhout, who graduated from Trinity in 2003.He said the school has been part of his family for generations, adding that his parents are also alumni and were married on campus.
The Class of 2026 will be the last class to graduate from Trinity, Dryfhout said.
769 students are currently enrolled in the school, and many will now have to figure out next steps to finish their degrees.
“I’m still talking with all my friends, seeing where they go,” Danny Staskunas, a junior finance major, told NBC Chicago. He said he will be “starting over” if he went somewhere else.
Some underclass students will have to transfer, and some teach-out agreements with institutions that work directly with Trinity to provide enhanced credit, tuition and degree-completion projections are already in place.
The most up-to-date information on teach-out agreements and institutions can be found here.
All buildings and the 130 leafy acres of land that make up the school’s campus will be sold to pay off debts, the school said.
More information on the closure can be found here.
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