For-profit college in Peoria, Illinois, US
Midstate College
was a
for-profit college
in
Peoria
,
Illinois
.
History
[
edit
]
Midstate College's origins date back to 1857, when a commercial school was started in Peoria. In 1865, a similar school opened, and the two schools combined in 1868. In 1888, the merged school was bought by George W. Brown, principal of Jacksonville Business College, and named
Brown's Business College
of Commerce
.
[2]
[3]
In 1902, a new building was completed at 240 South (now Southwest) Jefferson Street, on the corner of Jefferson and Harrison Streets downtown, and Brown's Business College moved into the second and third floors.
[3]
Over time, Mr. Brown increased his properties to 20 institutions, including
Cairo
,
Decatur
,
Jacksonville
and
Rockford
in Illinois;
Davenport
and
Muscatine, Iowa
; and
St. Louis, Missouri
.
[3]
Mr. Brown continued ownership of the Peoria school until 1913, then sold it to a Mr. Reed. Reed sold the school in 1960 to A.R. Beard, Don Beard, and Arline H. Bunch, who renamed the school
Midstate College of Commerce
. In 1965, the Bunch family purchased the stock, and renamed the school to simply
Midstate College
in 1970.
[2]
R. Dale Bunch became president around 1965.
[1]
In October 1997,
[2]
Midstate moved from its 95-year-old downtown location to 411 West Northmoor Road, near the corner of Northmoor Road and Knoxville Avenue (
Illinois Route 40
). The downtown building was bought by a developer, was renovated, and became known as the Prairie Building in 1998.
[4]
In November 1999, Midstate was approved as a four-year institution and began offering a
Bachelor of Business Administration
degree; other bachelor's degrees were added later.
[2]
The Arline H. Bunch Business Center opened in January 2002.
[2]
Bunch's daughter, Meredith N. Bunch, became college president in November 2010; R. Dale Bunch remained
chairman of the board
.
[1]
In 2018, Midstate College announced an upcoming
Master of Business Administration
program.
[5]
[
needs update
]
In July 2019, Meredith Bunch announced that Midstate would close at the end of the 2019 summer semester and put the campus up for sale, after the college went through declining enrollment and a potential partnership with another educational institution fell through, leaving the college with a lack of funding.
[6]
[7]
[
needs update
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
"Daughter fills father's post at Midstate College"
.
Peoria Journal Star
.
Gatehouse Media
. December 6, 2010
. Retrieved
December 7,
2010
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
"History of the College"
.
Peoria, Illinois
: Midstate College. June 30, 2010. Archived from
the original
on January 2, 2011
. Retrieved
December 7,
2010
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Brown Business College"
. Peoria, Illinois: Prairie Property Group One. February 19, 2008
. Retrieved
August 24,
2009
.
[
dead link
]
- ^
"Prairie Building History"
. Peoria, Illinois: Prairie Property Group One. February 19, 2008
. Retrieved
August 24,
2009
.
Requires
JavaScript
.
[
dead link
]
- ^
Bruch, Thomas (September 6, 2018).
"Midstate College adds MBA degree program"
.
Journal Star
. Retrieved
January 28,
2019
.
- ^
Shelley, Tim (July 23, 2019).
"Midstate President: Low Enrollment Forced College's Closure Next Month"
.
WCBU
.org
. Peoria, Illinois.
Archived
from the original on July 24, 2019
. Retrieved
July 24,
2019
.
- ^
Schwaller, Kevin; Bohlmann, Janie (July 23, 2019).
"Midstate College to permanently close next month"
.
CIProud.com
. Peoria, Illinois.
Archived
from the original on July 24, 2019
. Retrieved
July 24,
2019
.
External links
[
edit
]