Iowa Wesleyan University’s Board of Trustees announced its unanimous decision to close the university at the end of this academic year. The Board indicated that the decision was based on increased operating costs due to inflationary pressures, changing enrollment trends, and a significant drop in philanthropic giving.
Iowa Wesleyan was founding in Mt. Pleasant, IA as Mount Pleasant Literary Institute in 1842. The name changed to Mount Pleasant Collegiate Institute in 1843 and to Iowa Wesleyan University in 1855. The name changed to Iowa Wesleyan College in 1912 and back to Iowa Wesleyan University in May 2015. Read more about historical details on the IWU History page.
You can read more in "Iowa Wesleyan University closing after 181 years," with reporting by Vanessa Miller for The Gazette of Cedar Rapids, IA or "Iowa Wesleyan University outlines reasons for closing down at the end of academic year," posted by WQAD-TV of Moline, IL with reporting by Hollie Knepper.
If you are interested in recent trends for closures, mergers, and acquisitions access College Closures since 2009 in the index at the right of any College History Garden page. There are separate tabs for non-profit closures, for-profit closures, and one for mergers and acquisitions. Each tab includes basic information for the institutions, i.e., Carnegie Classification, sector, accrediting agency, and the IPEDS unitid.
"University of Iowa takes in old documents from closed Iowa Wesleyan University," posted by Iowa Public Radio on November 10, 2023 with reporting by Zachary Oren Smith.
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