The Concordia University System (CUS) is an organization of five colleges and universities and one satellite campus in the United States that are operated by the

Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod (LCMS), also known as the Missouri Synod, is an orthodox, traditional confessional Lutheran Christian denomination, denomination in the United States. With 1.7 million members as of 2022 it is the second-l ...

(LCMS). All of the institutions are named "Concordia"—a reference to the Latin title of ''

The Book of Concord ''The Book of Concord'' (1580) or ''Concordia'' (often referred to as the ''Lutheran Confessions'') is the historic doctrinal standard recognized as authoritative by many Lutheran church bodies since the 16th century. It consists of ten creedal ...

'', the collection of Lutheran confessions—and all include professional church work programs as part of their

curricula In education, a curriculum (; : curriculums or curricula ) is the totality of student experiences that occur in an educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view of the student's experi ...

. The CUS was formed in 1992. In 2011, 28,421 students attended Concordia University System institutions. In 2021, the official website for the system claimed an enrollment of over 35,000 students. Each Concordia except the one in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is independent and has its own president, faculty, and board of regents;

Concordia University Ann Arbor Concordia University Ann Arbor (CUAA) is the Ann Arbor, Michigan, campus of Concordia University Wisconsin, a private Lutheran university in Mequon, Wisconsin. As part of Concordia University, it is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. ...

is now a satellite campus of

Concordia University Wisconsin Concordia University Wisconsin (CUW) is a private Lutheran university in Mequon, Wisconsin, United States. It is part of the Concordia University System operated by the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS). The university is organized into ...

. At the same time, the schools interact with one another and share some resources and services. One service offered by the CUS, the Simultaneous Enrollment Program, allows any student enrolled at one Concordia to attend another CUS college for up to a year as a "visiting student". During that time, visiting students are considered to be enrolled at both CUS institutions simultaneously. The 2019 convention of the LCMS passed Resolution 7-03 to create a new governance model for the schools. In February 2021, a committee appointed by the synod's board of directors tentatively proposed a new model under which each school's board of regents and administration would be responsible for its own property and business matters, while the CUS would be replaced with a Commission on University Education which would govern the "ecclesiastical functions and connections of the schools" and would establish "ecclesiastical accreditation process". The plan is not complete and the committee is receiving comments from interested parties in the LCMS.

Campuses

The six campuses in the Concordia University System are: *

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...

- A branch campus of Concordia University Wisconsin since 2013 *

Concordia University Chicago Concordia University Chicago is a private university in River Forest, Illinois, United States. Formerly a college exclusively for educating teachers for parochial schools, Concordia-Chicago now offers more than 100 undergraduate and postgraduat ...

River Forest, Illinois River Forest is a suburban village adjacent to Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 11,717. Two universities make their home in River Forest, Dominican University (Ill ...

Concordia University Irvine Concordia University Irvine is a private Lutheran university in Irvine, California, United States. It was established in 1976 to provide a Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod college to serve the Pacific Southwest and provide training for pastors, ...

Irvine, California Irvine () is a Planned community, planned city in central Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. It was named in 1888 for the landowner James Irvine. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the ...

Concordia University, Saint Paul Concordia University, St. Paul is a private university in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. It was founded in 1893 and enrolls nearly 5,900 students. It is a member of the Concordia University System, which is operated by the second-large ...

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, ...

* Concordia University, Nebraska in

Seward, Nebraska Seward is a city in and the county seat of Seward County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 7,643 at the 2020 census. Seward is part of the Lincoln, Nebraska metropolitan area. History Seward was platted in 1868. It was named from ...

Mequon, Wisconsin Mequon () is the most populous city in Ozaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 25,142 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located on Lake Michigan's western shore with significant commercial developments along Int ...

Several former members of CUS have closed since 2018:

Concordia College Alabama Concordia College Alabama was a Private historically black college associated with the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod and located in Selma, Alabama. It was the only historically black college among the ten colleges and universities in the C ...

, in

Selma, Alabama Selma is a city in and the county seat of Dallas County, in the Black Belt region of south central Alabama and extending to the west. Located on the banks of the Alabama River, the city has a population of 17,971 as of the 2020 census. Abou ...

, closed in 2018;

Concordia University Concordia University () is a Public university, public English-language research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College (Montreal), Loyola College and Sir George Williams Universit ...

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, closed in 2020; and Concordia College–New York in

Bronxville, New York Bronxville is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York (state), New York, United States, located approximately north of Midtown Manhattan. It is part of the Adminis ...

, closed in 2021.

Concordia University Texas Concordia University Texas is a private university in Austin, Texas, United States. The university offers undergraduate, Graduate school, graduate, and online degrees as well as an adult degree program for part-time and returning students. Conc ...

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

was formerly part of the system, but filed for a governance independent of CUS and the LCMS and declined to seat regents elected at the 2023 LCMS convention. , the university is in a legal dispute with the LCMS over ownership and accountability of the institution and is not considered to be a CUS or LCMS school while the court case is unsettled.

Non-member institutions

There are several educational institutions named "Concordia" that are not part of the Concordia University System. For example, neither of the LCMS seminaries (

Concordia Seminary Concordia Seminary is a Lutheran seminary in Clayton, Missouri. The institution's primary mission is to train pastors, deaconesses, missionaries, chaplains, and church leaders for the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS). Founded in 1839, t ...

and

Concordia Theological Seminary Concordia Theological Seminary is a Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, Lutheran seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It offers professional, master's degrees, and doctoral degrees affiliated with training clergy and deaconesses for the Lutheran Churc ...

) are part of CUS. The non-accredited Concordia College and University is in no way affiliated with the Concordia University System or its seven campuses. The educational institutions of the

Lutheran Church–Canada Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched the Reformation in 15 ...

are not part of the CUS even though that church body was originally part of the LCMS and remains associated with it. Those institutions are

Concordia Lutheran Seminary Concordia Lutheran Seminary (CLS) is a Lutheran seminary situated on the north bank of the North Saskatchewan River in Edmonton, the provincial capital of Alberta, Canada. The seminary is located near the campus of Concordia University of Edmont ...

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

, and

Concordia Lutheran Theological Seminary Concordia Lutheran Theological Seminary (CLTS), founded in 1976, is a seminary of the Lutheran Church–Canada (LCC) on the campus of Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario. Its primary purpose is to educate students seeking ordination in ...

St. Catharines St. Catharines is the most populous city in Canada's Niagara Region, the eighth largest urban area in the province of Ontario. As of 2021, St. Catharines has an area of and 136,803 residents. It lies in Southern Ontario, south of Toronto ac ...

Concordia University of Edmonton Concordia University of Edmonton, is a publicly funded independent academic institution in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; accredited under the Alberta ''Post-secondary Learning Act''. Concordia offers arts, science, and management undergraduate degre ...

was founded as a Lutheran institution, but has since secularized. Other schools of higher education named Concordia that are affiliated with neither the CUS nor the LCMS include Concordia College in

Moorhead, Minnesota Moorhead ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Clay County, Minnesota, Clay County, Minnesota, United States, on the banks of the Red River of the North. Located in the Red River Valley, an extremely fertile and active agricultural region, Moo ...

, and

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

References

External links

* {{authority control Educational institutions established in 1992 1992 establishments in the United States

Campuses

Non-member institutions

See also

References

External links