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St. Ambrose and Mount Mercy Universities, two Roman Catholic institutions that lie about 80 miles apart from each other in Iowa, are tying their fates together, announcing Monday that they are pursuing a “strategic combination” designed to broaden educational opportunities for students, reduce their time to degree, and potentially save costs.
The partnership will begin with a curricular agreement to create 18 graduate pathways between the two institutions. Another agreement in the works would smooth transfer from undergraduate into graduate programs. The presidents of the two institutions said they will continue to explore a more substantial “combination” that could result in “shared administrative functions and economies of scale to achieve cost savings and more efficient operations.”
An FAQ said St. Ambrose and Mount Mercy planned to remain separate.
“In the current higher education environment, this type of work represents a bold and proactive approach to capitalize on the current academic and financial strength of both Mount Mercy and St. Ambrose,” Amy Novak, St. Ambrose’s president, said in a news release.
Catholic and other religious institutions have had a particularly rough time amid declining enrollments and escalating higher education costs and prices nationally.
The Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities has been working to enable partnerships between its member institutions.
“We know these are challenging times for our colleges and universities,” Donna M. Carroll, one of the group’s co-presidents, said in a news release. “We fully support the work St. Ambrose and Mount Mercy are doing to lead the way in creating a leading-edge, responsive and sustainable future for Catholic higher education.”
