Oakland City University says it needs a donation to come through to pay its workers.
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An Indiana Christian university is in danger of closing by the end of the month.
Oakland City University told the state government April 1 that it would lay off all 167 of its employees June 1, perhaps for good. On May 8, employees’ paychecks didn’t arrive, and they’re still waiting to get paid. A spokesperson for the Higher Learning Commission, which accredits the university, told Inside Higher Ed it is “reaching out to the institution regarding this public report” and “will continue to explore the situation.”
But Todd Mosby, the university’s associate vice president of advancement, development, marketing and communications, told Inside Higher Ed Friday, “We’ve never said we would close.” The institution is working with two donors, both companies, to pay the missed paychecks and to keep the university’s doors open next academic year, he said.
Mosby didn’t name either company. He also said he didn’t know why the money from the company that’s promised to cover the paychecks hasn’t yet reached the university’s bank accounts.
“The university didn’t have the money; we’ve got a donor that’s going to provide the money, and the money is working its way through the banking system,” he said.
He also declined to release any details on a “strategic partnership” with the second company.
“I can’t give any assurances,” Mosby said. “None of us can give any assurances.”
He also said he didn’t know how the university got into this financial situation; it wasn’t due to a loss of students, because enrollment has increased, he said. According to Education Department data, the university had 640 students as of fall 2024, down from 2,086 a decade before that—but that decline was almost entirely in part-time students.
The university’s most recent IRS Form 990 filing, for the tax or calendar year beginning in 2023, showed it had a $4 million operating deficit and a $4.4 million deficit the year before. Its reported endowment funds also dropped from $10.6 million to $5.4 million. It still reported having total net assets of $33.5 million.
The Evansville Courier & Press, citing an unnamed source at the university, reported that athletic staff were told Wednesday the university would close entirely before the end of this month. Mosby said those staff were actually told the plan was to suspend classes for the 2026–27 academic year. But Mosby said the planned strategic partnership would avert this.
Also on Wednesday, 14 News reported that Mosby said the strategic partnership had been finalized. But Mosby told Inside Higher Ed, “We’re still in the middle of negotiating that particular agreement.”
The Courier & Press has published screenshots of university president Ron Dempsey repeatedly messaging employees that they would be paid soon. At one point, Dempsey said the “revenue source for payroll” had expressed “plans to sue” a bank holding up the money transfer, before the bank relented.
The university has also said it’s considering selling a patent for carbon capture technology, which seeks to stop carbon dioxide created by burning fossil fuels from entering the atmosphere. A September article in Energy Research and Social Science, however, found that such “technologies have failed to meet expectations despite 30 years of promises.”
Mosby said the university is “very confident” it will be able to make money off the patent to help shore up the university’s finances, separate from the strategic partnership.
After Inside Higher Ed spoke with Mosby Friday, 14 News reported that the university had put two of its buildings up for sale.
The university says on its website that it was founded in the late 19th century and is the “only General Baptist–affiliated higher ed institution in the nation.” General Baptists are a Protestant Christian denomination.
In April, the university put its number of workers at 167 in its Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice of planned layoffs. Since then, some employees have left, Mosby said.
“If you were in this situation, would you not be looking for something else?” he said.
