By Rosemary Anderson
After its 25 year residency, Moody Bible Institute has decided to shut down its Spokane campus.
To ensure the financial success of Moody Global Ministries, executives have decided to close the campus due to decreasing enrollment rates.
According to Moody Spokane’s website, the Christian evangelical school added around 100 new students each year. But that number has been decreasing since 2015, with only 32 new students enrolled for the 2017 – 2018 school year.
The 442 students currently enrolled at the Spokane campus will be able to finish out the school year and then make the decision to enroll at Moody’s Chicago campus, continue their studies online or transfer to another school.
The school, which offered eight undergraduate degrees and two certificate programs, has left a big impact on the Spokane area since its start in 1993.
“Spokane has a long and unique history when it comes to bible schools,” said David Beine, professor of intercultural studies at Moody Spokane.
Beine said that history includes Moody wiggling its way out of debt with help from the IRS and a Catholic priest and seeing its students increase from 40 to over 400 over the years.
Moody students have become leaders in their churches, their workplaces and their communities. Beine, who has been a professor with Moody since 2006, said his students have accumulated over 18,000 community service hours.
Wendy Lidell, Moody’s associate dean of academics, is grateful for the school’s impact in the Spokane area.
“Moody has given students a foundation for their faith,” Lidell said. “I have seen students become Biblical teachers and Christian leaders in their business. And that won’t stop.”
Moody’s aviation school, which moved to Spokane in 2005, will continue to offer undergraduate degrees in missionary aviation and maintenance despite the closure.
Check back on SpokaneFāVS.com for part two of this story.
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The freshman class for 2017-2018 was closer to 90 or 100.