The Higher Learning Commission has removed a sanction on Hannibal-LaGrange University in Hannibal regarding its financial health. The college, which has more than 450 undergraduate students and a 165-acre campus, is affiliated with the Missouri Baptist Convention.
“Our entire campus community has been deeply committed to putting HLGU on a stable financial foundation that supports our mission of academic excellence and faith-centered learning,” President Robert Matz says. “We are grateful to everyone who contributed to this successful turnaround and look forward to a future of growth and opportunity.”
The commission officially changed the university’s status effective October 31, going from “Accredited — Probation” to “Accredited.” The college, founded in 1858, had taken steps to address previous concerns over financial health and accountability, including changes to staffing and governing board duties. However, the commission maintained some concerns regarding financial health, noting that “the ongoing impact of the institution’s historical financial challenges will continue.”
“The institution has implemented strategies to improve its financial position, including through reducing its debt to the endowment,” the commission said in its announcement. “These strategies will have an important impact on addressing the debt but also means that the endowment will have limited growth for several years. The institution has made progress with respect to systematic and integrated planning and improvement, but there remains much work ahead for it to be sustainable financially.”
In November 2022, the Christian Post reported, the commission placed Hannibal-LaGrange on a two-year probation, citing concerns surrounding the university’s publicized financial issues and poor board governance. The decision came months after Rodney Harrison, the university’s interim president, publicly acknowledged that it had been financially struggling for some time.
Harrison led an on-campus event in March 2022, telling students and staff that school was facing “imminent disaster” because of financial mismanagement. He confessed that university leaders “have not been always faithful stewards of the resources that God has given to this university.” Matz was elected university president by the board of trustees in October 2022. He previously served as vice president of academic administration, dean of the faculty and professor of theology and preaching.
–Alan Goforth and the Christian Post