Concordia University is a private, nonprofit, Lutheran liberal arts university in Portland, Oregon in the United States. Opened in 1905 as a University-preparatory school, the institution added college classes in 1950 and the high school formally split in 1977. The school of approximately 5,400 undergraduate and graduate students is affiliated with the Lutheran Churchâ€"Missouri Synod and the Concordia University System. Located in Northeast Portland, the school also has branch campuses across Oregon and operates the Concordia University School of Law in Boise, Idaho. The university has four colleges and eighteen majors. Its athletic teams, known as the Cavaliers, currently compete in NCAA's Great Northwest Athletic Conference at the Division II level.
History
Concordia Academy was founded in 1905 by a growing Lutheran community in the Pacific Northwest to meet the need for pastors and parochial school teachers. The school added a junior college by 1950 and in 1968 women were first admitted to then Concordia High School. In 1962, Concordia became accredited by the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges.
In 1977, an association of local Lutheran churches, the Portland Lutheran Association for Christian Education, assumed ownership and management of the high school. At this time, Concordia separated from the high school and became a four-year institution, graduating its first baccalaureate students in 1980. Concordia College became Concordia University in 1995 and converted to the semester calendar. The next year the school added master's degrees in teaching and education, followed by a Master of Business Administration program in 2001. In 2002, the master's degree in education became Concordia's first program to also be fully online.
The university added a bachelor's degree in nursing in 2005 and then started the College of Health and Human Services in 2007. The nursing program was the first new program in the state in 40Â years. In 2009, Concordia started a program for conferring a bachelor's degree in music. As of 2012, enrollment at the private school was about 3,100, almost doubling its enrollment over the past five years.
The Concordia University School of Law is located in Boise, Idaho, and graduated its first class of students in August 2015. Former Idaho Supreme Court Justice Cathy Silak is the dean of the law school.
The school moved its athletic teams from the NAIA's Cascade Collegiate Conference to the NCAA's Division II level competing in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference starting fall of 2015.
Campus
Located in Northeast Portland in the Concordia neighborhood, the university sits on a 13-acre (5.3Â ha) campus near U.S. Route 30 Bypass (Lombard Street). A new $15Â million library, the George R. White Library & Learning Center, with 75,000 square feet (7,000Â m2) opened across from the campus green in 2009. Other amenities on the campus include a 60-foot (18Â m) tall bell tower and the 50,000-square-foot (4,600Â m2) Concordia Place Apartments, a residence hall.
Academics
Concordia University contains four undergraduate colleges of study:
- College of Education
- Early Childhood Education (non-licensure)
- Early Childhood and Elementary Education (licensure)
- Secondary Education (licensure)
- Online Program available
- School of Management
- Accounting
- Business
- Marketing
- Minor Concentrations
- Accounting
- Finance
- Marketing
- Sports Management
- College of Health and Human Services
- Exercise and Sport Science
- Healthcare Administration
- Campus
- Online
- Long Term Care Administration
- Nursing
- Freshman (Freshman Nursing Advantage Program available)
- Transfer Program
- Accelerated BSN (16-month blended learning program)
- Social Work (Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts)
- College of Arts and Sciences
Through these colleges the university offers a total of 18 majors and 20 concentrations. Additionally, the university offers graduate degrees in education and business administration and is developing a law school, the Concordia University School of Law, in Boise, Idaho. Concordia has a dual enrollment agreement with Portland Community College.
In 2013, U.S. News & World Report ranked Concordia as 80th best amongst the regional universities in the west. Concordia University is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities.
Athletics
Concordiaâ€"Oregon teams, nicknamed athletically as the Cavaliers, are part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC). Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, soccer and track & field; while women's sports include basketball, soccer, cross country, golf, softball, track & field and volleyball.
The official school colors are navy and white. In 2012, Concordia opened a new athletic complex, Hilken Community Stadium, which was built at a cost of $7.5 million.
Concordiaâ€"Oregon has been noted for the consistent success of its men's golf team over the last decade. The men's program is headed by Adrian Burtner. The Cavaliers dominated their former conference at the NAIA level, with the men winning 13 of 13 Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) titles since its inception in 1997. They were also champions of the 2016 inaugural Cavalier Invite. Additionally, the track and field program includes throwing (discus, hammer throw, javelin, and shot put) coach Jarred Rome, a two-time U.S. national champion and two-time Olympian, who runs the Throw Center.
The school has begun the transition to the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division II and the Great Northwest Athletic Conference and is scheduled to become eligible for the postseason for the 2017-18 academic year.
Notable alumni
- Dave Reichert - representative from Washington's 8th congressional district; former King County sheriff
- Paul Simon - late U.S. Senator from Illinois
References
External links
- Official website
- Concordia University Athletics website
