Worcester Business Journal

12 Worcester Business Journal | June 26, 2017 | wbjournal.com F OC U S E N T R E P R E N E U R S & I N N O V A T I O N Six years after shutting down, a Lancaster religious college is fighting forces inside and outside the church as it hopes to be reaccredited Struggling for a revival BY GRANT WELKER Worcester Business Journal Digital Editor A vis Hendrickson sees Atlantic Union College as both a startup and a turn- around, words not often given to a 135-year-old school. But the Lancaster college is in an usual situation, and its president knows it. At a time when many small schools have closed, been forced to merge or not expected to survive, Atlantic Union is trying to re-establish itself after shut- ting down classes for four years once it lost its accreditation and ability for stu- dents to use federal financial aid. The college remains heavily reliant on church subsidies and has fewer than 50 students, who are still unable to earn degrees from the school or receive financial aid. None of that has deterred Hendrickson, who became president in 2015 after the school reopened classes. "We are drawing students because they are coming," she said confidently and matter-of-factly. The New England Association of Schools and Colleges pulled Atlantic Union's accreditation in 2011, and its 400-plus students were forced to trans- fer elsewhere, but the organization has given the college approval seek reac- creditation. "We weren't turned down, we were given a go-ahead, which is great because we could have been turned down," Hendrickson said. Accreditation from the association once more is still several years away, and not until 2019 can students earn a degree from Atlantic Union. Until then, students earn credits and transfer elsewhere. The Seventh-day college Atlantic Union has long relied on subsidies from the Seventh-day Adventist Church for a huge chunk of its revenue, including nearly 90 percent of its $4.5 million in 2015 income, according to the college's 2016 annual financial report. Thanks to the church revenue, the school yielded positive margins in 2014 and 2015, after losing money in 2012 and 2013. Atlantic Union had $2.9 mil- lion available in unrestricted net assets at the end of 2015, the last year available. The college is even having to defend itself to its largest financial supporters within the church. One source of church funding, the Southern New England Conference, which is based immediately off Atlantic Union's campus, voted in April to take $800,000 it had traditionally given to the college and instead direct it to financial help for college-age youth in the church. The conference cited lower- than-expected enrollment and what it called an unsustainable trend of rising staffing levels, and said it found Atlantic Union was not in a position to service the college-age youth of the conference. David Dennis, the conference presi- dent, said the group will consider an appeal from the college. "It's still kind of internal business," Dennis said. "We're still working lots of things out." Aside from making ends meet finan- cially, Atlantic Union has other chal- lenges, too, including getting its name before prospective students. The school isn't included on the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard, and the New England Association of Schools and Colleges still lists Atlantic Union on a list of defunct schools. Fighting for money in a tough market Colleges of all sizes are struggling in what is often an arms race for the best facilities. Bain & Co., the Boston man- The plan for the return of Atlantic Union College to its glory days is largely based on its appeal to Seventh-day Adventist students. P H O T O S / E D D C O T E

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