Trinity Christian College announces closure

Trinity Christian College in Palos Heights, Ill., will close its doors at the end of the 2025-26 academic year, according to an announcement on the school’s website. The news comes just months after Trinity’s former president, Dr. Aaron Kuecker, resigned to serve as the CEO of a Chicago nonprofit.

Why is Trinity closing? In its Nov. 4 closure announcement, the school cited a host of causes including financial losses following the pandemic, operating deficits, and declining enrollment. Despite recent efforts to increase class size by offering cheaper tuition, the school has just under 1,000 students. More than 75% of the school’s donations came from just three donors in 2024, according to the school’s most recent audit, and Trinity operated at a loss in eight of the last 10 fiscal years. Trinity administrators explained that they had explored options beyond shutting down, but decided alternatives were untenable due to financial deficits. Current students will still have access to their housing, classes, and meal plans until spring of 2026.

Have any other Christian colleges recently announced closures? According to 2024 analysis from the Hechinger Report, 79 nonprofit colleges and universities had either closed, merged, or announced plans to do so since the pandemic. Of that number, more than half were religiously affiliated.

Dig deeper: Read Elizabeth Russell’s feature exploring Christian college closures.