Low Enrollment Forces Sale of Johnson University Florida
Closure reflects broader financial crisis facing Christian schools
What began as an effort to revitalize a failed Christian college campus in Kissimmee, Florida, has become another statistic pointing to a crisis in higher education.
Video screenshot @Johnson University Florida
On June 30, Johnson University Florida permanently shut its doors. The next day, the school’s 40-acre campus was sold by its parent institution, Restoration Movement-affiliated Johnson University of Knoxville, Tennessee, to the local county government for $28 million. The Christian Standard originally reported this story.
“None of us are happy about closing the campus. We’re all sad,” said Tommy Smith told the Christian Standard, who retired from his role as Johnson University president the same day the sale was finalized. “We certainly wanted to make it work.”
Just 11 years ago, Johnson University purchased the property from Florida Christian College, which had lost its accreditation due to financial woes. Hoping to breathe new energy into the failed campus, the new owner invested in significant renovations to the facilities. Then in 2021, the board of trustees approved a “turnaround plan” that included hiring a campus minister, developing a reading lab, introducing new sports programs and seeking funding for a multicultural ministry.
Nevertheless, enrollment shrank every year, from about 350 students in 2013 to just 150 for the final academic year.
“Although many people have worked very hard to increase enrollment and lower the budget deficit on the campus, the Board decided the campus was not financially sustainable,” Johnson University explained in a statement announcing the closure.
“We did everything we knew to do,” Smith said. “We just could not build enrollment to the point that it could be a self-sustaining campus.”
Marvin Elliot, executive vice president of the shuttered school, emphasized the positive. He called the sale price a “great blessing for the kingdom” that is similar to what was invested over the years to operate the campus.
Elliot also noted that students and faculty were notified well in advance of the closure.
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“I think it’s gone as well as anyone could expect it to go,” he said. “We were in a position to be able to give a lot of notice. Giving a year’s notice helps students figure out what they are going to do. It helps people find jobs. It provides a long runway for people to make plans.”
Of the 150 students, about 40 have indicated an intention to relocate to the Tennessee campus. Of the 35 staff still on payroll at the time of the closure, five will relocate to Tennessee, five will work remotely from Florida, three retired, and others have either found employment elsewhere or are still looking.
Johnson University Florida joins a list of Restoration Movement-affiliated schools that have either closed, or merged with other institutions. These include Cincinnati Christian University, Lincoln Christian University, Nebraska Christian College, and St. Louis Christian College. Great Lakes Christian College which was placed on probation by Higher Learning Commission officials in 2022, has since increased enrollment by 7% and giving to the College by 140% and is poised to be removed from probationary status later this year.
More broadly, many small private colleges and universities have struggled to stay afloat in the face of skyrocketing expenses, falling enrollment, and a shrinking college-age demographic due to lower birth rates.
However, Johnson University’s new president, Daniel Overdorf, celebrated that former Florida students continue to spread the Gospel around the world.
“The closing of this school,” he said, “is not the end of this ministry.”
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