(Radio Iowa) – Saint Ambrose University in Davenport and Mount Mercy University in Cedar Rapids have finished the first step in their consolidation plan. The Catholic universities decided to merge after years of declining enrollment. Saint Ambrose University president Amy Novak says the merger will strengthen both schools. “We can all bury our heads in the sand and sort of deny what’s maybe happening or the challenges we’re facing, or we can creatively think our way through what could a different model of how we do this work look like,” she said.

“And I think that’s what you’re seeing in the work that’s happening here between St. Ambrose and Mt. Mercy.” All Mount Mercy assets were transferred to Saint Ambrose this week. Saint Ambrose had about 25-hundred students last fall compared to the 14-hundred enrolled at Mount Mercy. By next summer, course catalogs for the schools will be combined and students will be able to take classes at both campuses. Todd Olson will continue as president of Mount Mercy University for another year.

“We believe in, we’re committed to, and we want to improve the outcomes of higher education for our students,” Olson said. “We believe we’re in the strongest position to do that if we can do it together.” Olson says smaller colleges are facing challenges as the rate of high school seniors enrolling in college declines nationwide. Iowa Wesleyan University in Mount Pleasant had an enrollment of about 850 students when it was closed in May of 2023.

According to the Iowa College Foundation, nearly half of the students in Iowa who earned an undergraduate degree this year got that degree from one of the 32 private colleges and universities in the state.