University of Portland’s office of admissions has been receiving a high amount of inquiries from Concordia University students, who recently found out their school is shutting down at the end of the semester. There may be opportunities at UP for them, unless they want to transfer to the nursing school.
For the past two years, UP’s nursing school has been closed to transfer students because it is at full capacity. According to Jason McDonald, director of admissions, undergraduate Concordia students in other majors can apply to UP through the normal transfer process.
“Business, College of Arts and Sciences, Education … as long as they meet our admissions criteria, we will accept them,” McDonald said.
Shortly after the closure announcement, the UP School of Education and the Pamplin School of Business set up landing pages on UP’s website for Concordia students who might want to transfer.
“Undergraduate and graduate counselors are working individually with students to review transcripts and placement options,” John Watzke, dean of the school of education and the graduate school said. “This is a personal and individualized process with a focus on ensuring programs and placements are the right match.”
This application process is similar to the graduate program process at the Pamplin School of Business.
“Students who aspire to become business professionals and those professionals working on advanced degrees and credentials may reach out to us to explore transfer and programming options,” the webpage the Business School set up for Concordia students reads.
Unlike some other universities in the area, UP is not offering incentives for Concordia students to transfer. George Fox University, Linfield College and Pacific University released statements on their website about accommodations for Concordia students. These include minimum financial aid rewards, waived application fees and automatically transferred credits.
According to its website, Linfield College is waving all application fees for Concordia students, as well as a minimum of $16,500 for a financial aid reward.
In response to the closure, Concordia University’s branch in Saint Paul, Minnesota, agreed to take over the program for nursing students to complete their degree in Portland. Administrators at Saint Paul created an agreement for these students.
“Accelerated nursing students will graduate on same timetable and still earn a degree from a Concordia University,” according to Eric LaMott, the provost and chief operating officer at Concordia-Saint Paul. “Accelerated nursing students already admitted for future terms will have their admission decisions honored by Concordia University-Saint Paul.”
Although students will still have access to this program, the university’s closure still affects thousands of students.
“We’re getting a lot of calls. But we are certainly trying to give them all the information they need, so they can make the decision,” McDonald said about the Concordia students. “Hopefully it works out and some of them can come here.”
Fiona O’Brien is a reporter for The Beacon. She can be reached at obrienf21@up.edu.
