Past Colleges & Universities of Kansas

Art Institutes International-KC

The Art Institutes offered programs at the certificate, associate’s, bachelor’s, and master’s levels. By 2012, there were 50 campuses nationwide with roughly 80,000 enrolled students. The for-profit college chain was owned by a large company that faced allegations of illegal recruiting practices across 39 states and Washington, D.C., and numerous lawsuits alleging fraud. The company ultimately agreed to a historic $95 million settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice. Kansas had only one school within the system – The Art Institutes International-Kansas City. In 2011, it had an enrollment of 560. It opened in 2008 and closed in 2019. It was located at 8208 Melrose Drive in Lenexa, Kansas.

Bluemont College

Blue Mont Central College was a private Methodist institution of higher learning. It was incorporated in February 1858 and was the forerunner of Kansas State University. Kansas State University named Bluemont Hall to honor the college.

Campbell College

Campbell College was the successor-in-interest to Lane University in Lecompton. It merged with Kansas City University, which later also closed.

Central Normal School

This independent normal school opened in 1888, with D.E. Sanders as president and William Stryker as principal. The school then enrolled 400 students. In 1898, the Central Normal College company was organized and purchased the property, which initially cost about $40,000. The company engaged a competent faculty, reorganized the institution with Porter Young as president, and broadened the scope of the college. Under the new management, eight courses of study were introduced, including reparatory, common school teachers’, special science, scientific, classical, pedagogical, oratorical, and commercial. There was also a special course in shorthand and typewriting.

Kenyon Hall

Associated with the Presbyterian church, when this college was founded, it was one of two higher education institutions in Emporia. The other was the “Kansas State Normal School,” established for teacher training and later became Emporia State University. The College of Emporia was a small liberal arts college on the west side of Emporia. By the early 1970s, enrollment declined, and in the fall of 1973, the trustees were forced to close the college at the end of the semester. The Way purchased the campus for $694,000 in 1975, and this group operated the campus until 1989. Afterward, it was sold to a local investment group, and the buildings were repurposed, including Kenyon Hall, which was renovated for housing for senior citizens.

College of the Sisters of Bethany

Chartered before Kansas became a state, this school was initially named the Episcopal Female Seminary of Topeka, but its name changed after it was re-chartered in 1870. The school operated under the Episcopal Diocese of Kansas church until it closed in 1928.

Concordia Normal School

Concordia Normal School began on March 10, 1874, with Professor E. F. Robinson as its principal. Ex-State Superintendent H. D. McCarty was made president in the second year. The school opened for students on September 16 that year. There were 66 students enrolled in the first year, and in 1875, enrollment more than doubled to 171. Following the Miscellaneous Appropriations Bill of 1876, normal state schools were consolidated into the Emporia Normal School, which later became Emporia State University.

Garfield University

In 1885, the Christian Churches of Kansas voted to establish an institution of higher learning, and in July 1886, work began on the building. It was named Garfield University in honor of the martyred President, James A. Garfield, a Christian Church member and a friend of Dr. W.B. Hendryx, pastor of Wichita’s Central Christian Church. Garfield University opened its doors in September 1887. One class graduated in 1890. Then, two crop failures in Kansas forced the 380 Christian Churches of the State to close the school because of lack of funds, and the great unfinished structure stood empty. It was later acquired by James M. and Anna Davis, who donated it to Friends University.

Kansas Christian College

Established under the auspices of the Christian church in 1882, it began classes in 1885. It was incorporated in 1888 with a property valuation of about $15,000. The main building was two stories tall and contained classrooms and a laboratory. While the Christian church supervised the school, it was non-sectarian. Five courses of study were provided: classical, scientific, normal, commercial, and musical. During the first ten years, its growth was relatively slow, with only 84 students being enrolled in 1893, but afterward, it grew.

Kansas City Medical College

Merged with what is now the University of Kansas to become K.U. Med Center.

St. Augustine Hall

Kansas City University was a private Methodist university in Kansas City, Kansas, that was founded in 1896. Due to lack of funds, it was closed in 1932

Lane University

Founded by Reverend Solomon Weaver, the first president, and was named after U.S. Senator James H. Lane, a Free-State leader. It merged with Campbell College, which later also closed. Today, the building is a museum known as the Territorial Capital Museum, dedicated to Kansas history before the Civil War. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Lawrence Business College Interior, 1912.

Established by W.H. McCauley, this was the first business college in Kansas. The school was located on the third and fourth floors of the Lawrence National Bank building. The large enrollment numbers that grew each year forced it to move to another location. Between 1900 and 1920, newspapers like the Lawrence Daily Journal-World and The Topeka Daily Capital had an entire page dedicated to the benefits of attending the school. The college taught young men and women the tools to enter the business world successfully. It is unknown when and why the college shut down.

Marymount College

A four-year liberal arts college opened in 1922 as a women’s college. The Sisters of St. Joseph of Concordia, Kansas, operated it. The original college was a three-story building that overlooked the Smoky Hill River. The single building on its 30-acre campus dominated the city’s eastern edge. The records were sent to St. Mary of the Plains College, which is also closed.

Miltonvale Wesleyan College

It ceased operation in 1972 when the school merged with Bartlesville Wesleyan College in Oklahoma. It later became a part of Oklahoma Wesleyan University. The school began operation in 1909 under Reverend Silas W. Bond and ceased operation in 1972 when it merged with Bartlesville Wesleyan College, which later became part of Oklahoma Wesleyan University.

Edwards House in Oswego.

Sometimes referred to as Oswego College, this school was operated by the Neosho Presbytery. Plagued by enrollment problems, the College closed in 1920 and sold its property to the Kansas Military Academy in 1922. The Italianate-style Edwards House, built in about 1874 as a private residence and surrounding property, is the last remaining vestige of the college. In 1885, the property was deeded to the Oswego College for Young Ladies. The house was a part of the military academy’s campus for two years before an adjacent classroom and dormitory building suffered a devastating fire. The military school subsequently sold the property, and it again became a private residence. It was added to the Kansas State Register of Historic Places in February 2014. It is located at 910 Ohio Street, south of Highway 96 on College Street.

Salina Normal University

This independent, coeducational school offered collegiate, normal, business, science, and fine arts courses. The university’s first proprietor was Alexander Hopkins, who closed his East Illinois College in Danville, Illinois, and brought some students and faculty with him. The building was constructed on College Street, at the western end of Iron Avenue, for $40,000. It opened with a record-breaking initial enrollment for a Normal School of 60. The building had 57 rooms, with the ground floor measuring 100 by 65 feet. It had two wings: a dormitory wing, able to house 60–75 students, and a college wing that could accommodate 500-600 students. The campus grounds occupied six acres. It was destroyed by fire in 1904 and was not rebuilt. At that time, it had 400 students.

Salt City Business College

The Salt City Business College moved several times and, at one point, was located at the southwest corner of Ave A and Main Street. The school continued to grow, and in 1910 moved into a new building on the northeast corner of A and Walnut Streets. To reach classes on the second floor, students would enter from the south through a marbled entrance. The school offered classes in accounting, bookkeeping, and business operations. The school also had a band and basketball teams. The school began to decline in the mid-1970s and closed down in 1979, its 100th year. The building still stands.

Soule College

This school was founded by Asa Titus Soule, a native of Rochester, New York, who made his fortune and reputation as the “Hop Bitters King” by peddling a patent medicine of Hop Bitters. Looking for a place to invest his newfound millions, he traveled west to Kansas. He initially invested in a scheme to build an irrigation ditch across western Kansas but soon decided to invest in higher education. In 1886, Soule partially endowed a new Presbyterian college in Dodge City with $50,000, thus giving birth to Soule College. The college advertised board for $2 per week and $24 per year tuition. After the school closed, the property was eventually purchased by St. Mary of the Plains College, which closed in 1992.

St. John’s Lutheran College

This was a two-year college that the Lutheran Church of Missouri operated. The school began operation in 1893 under the English Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri and other states and ceased operation in 1986 after over 9,000 students had been through its programs. Enrollment peaked in 1951 with 467 students. The church wanted to consolidate the college with its other schools, but the college administration was able to forestall that option for several years. Finally, during the spring 1986 semester, the school announced that it would be closing at the end of the semester. It maintains an active alumni association. Baden Hall, the original Seventh Avenue and College Street building, has been converted to apartments. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Pottawatomi Mission

The Jesuits founded the original St. Mary’s College in 1848 as an Indian mission. The school is the site of the first cathedral west of the Missouri River and east of the Rocky Mountains. When the Potawatomi Indians left, the Jesuits turned it into a boarding school for boys until it closed during the Great Depression. After 1931, the 465-acre plot hosted the divinity school of St. Louis University. With the movement of seminaries to the city after Vatican II, the land was sold, and the Jesuit divinity school returned to St. Louis in 1967. A second College presently exists at the same location, also named St. Mary’s College.

Ursuline Sisters campus.

Ursuline Academy opened in 1896 as a parochial and boarding school. The Ursuline sisters’ convent was on the 36-acre campus from 1895 to 2008, when the 23 remaining sisters merged with the Ursuline Sisters of Mount St. Joseph in Maple Mount, Kentucky. The campus auditorium was given to the city of Paola and is now the Paola Community Center. The motherhouse is now home to Arista Recovery, a rehabilitation facility for people recovering from drug or alcohol addictions. The grounds along Wea Street feature the picturesque motherhouse, cemetery, and Paola Community Center building, previously a part of Ursuline Academy.

Utopia College

A two-year college that granted certificates but not diplomas. It was established in 1946 by Roger Babson to bring practical business instruction to other parts of the United States. Graduates were invited to complete their baccalaureate degrees at Babson College. The name was changed in 1955 to Midwest Institute of Business Administration. Due to declining enrollment, the school closed permanently in 1970. The building still stands at the corner of East 5th Street and North St. Nicholas Street in Eureka, Kansas.