A 115-year Portland legacy came to an end when Concordia University, the largest private university in Oregon, announced it’s closing its doors for good at the end of the university’s spring semester.
Concordia fell into high debt after the number of enrolled students dropped from 8,000 to 5,000 over a course of a few of years. The university was able to pay for expenses with money from enrollments, but with the number of students plummeting, being financially stable has proven impossible.
Concordia’s closing does not only signify the end of an era, it signifies the loss of more than 1,518 jobs. Many of these workers include part-time student teachers, Norpac food workers, and the university’s professors.
Faculty members aren’t the only ones experiencing loss over the schools closing.
Adina Kiriac, TJ’s student teacher who is among the last graduating class of Concordia University, shares, “I have been a student at Concordia University for 4 years, and throughout those 4 years the school has been a home away from home for me. I’m one of the lucky ones that gets to graduate from there.”
Many students who planned to continue their academic journey at Concordia are now faced with having to transfer to another university, which poses its own challenges.
“After graduating, I planned on going back to get my masters degree, but now I have to look for other universities,” Kiriac explained, “Along with that, I now have to worry about some of my credits transferring. I have to plan ahead for the future because Concordia will no longer be there.”
Kiriac continued to explain the effects of the school’s closing: “knowing that you can’t go back to reach any of your old professors for advice when you start your first year of teaching will be hard because you will have no contact with them.”
Once the doors are closed, Kiriac and many other students lose their home away from home and access to valuable resources, but how is Concordia’s closing affecting the students in the present?
“The professors are great and supportive, but with the schools closing they have become very distracted with looking for another job, and figuring out what they are going to do, which has impacted the students learning environment, and the class’ overall atmosphere,” says Kiriac.
April 2020 will be a hard time for the students, and faculty members at Concordia University as well as the Portland community when they say goodbye to a century’s worth of education and academic success. And if you were planning on going to Concordia? Talk to Patty in the College and Career Center to help make a change in plans.