Dive Temporary:
- Lindenwood College, a nonprofit in Missouri, Thursday finalized its acquisition of Dorsey Faculty, an 89-year-old for-profit technical establishment based mostly in Michigan. Neither establishment has publicly shared the acquisition worth.
- Lindenwood’s buy permits it to develop into the profession training sector and create the next training system that may help a extra various set of scholars, in keeping with an FAQ on the college’s web site. The acquisition may also diversify Lindenwood’s income streams, the non-public college mentioned.
- The establishments will proceed to function individually, preserving their respective names and workers. Dorsey’s chief, John Barnes, will keep on as president and CEO and can report back to John Porter, president of the Lindenwood Training System. Porter may also proceed to function Lindenwood’s president.
Dive Perception:
Lindenwood’s board of trustees authorized a structural change to the Lindenwood College nonprofit company in late 2022 to permit for the acquisition of establishments that could not simply be built-in in a single establishment. The company modified its identify to the Lindenwood Training System earlier this 12 months.
“That is our first step within the plan to construct a community of faculties that may present life-long training resulting in profession development,” Porter mentioned in a campus e-mail asserting the finished buy.
It’s anticipated Dorsey will pursue recognition by the U.S. Division of Training as a non-profit larger ed establishment inside the coming months, in keeping with Lindenwood.
Lindenwood turned inquisitive about buying a technical faculty when it heard from native faculty superintendents that they had been sending nearly half of their college students to profession and vocational coaching after commencement, in keeping with the FAQ.
Dorsey was interesting to the college as a result of it has grown throughout a time when lots of its Midwest rivals both left the realm or closed. In 2021, Dorsey Colleges turned Dorsey Faculty when it started providing affiliate diploma applications. The establishments are at the moment exploring enrollment pathways for Dorsey graduates who is likely to be inquisitive about a Lindenwood program.
Dorsey additionally has a observe file of stability, sturdy branding and scholar success, in keeping with Lindenwood.
These elements appear to hold in opposition to many notable for-profit establishments which have confronted accusations of poor scholar outcomes and misleading gross sales pitches.
The same deal, if greater in scale — the College of Arkansas system’s potential acquisition of the College of Phoenix — has been met with pushback from Arkansas school over considerations the for-profit would diminish its model. In 2019, the College of Phoenix agreed to pay $191 million, most of it in canceled scholar debt, to settle Federal Commerce Fee allegations its ads misrepresented its relationships with main employers.
