Concordia’s closure will cost 1,500 their jobs

PORTLAND — More than 1,500 people will lose their jobs when Concordia University-Portland shuts down permanently this spring.

The small college in Northeast Portland said the layoffs of 1,518 people will begin this month and should be complete by September. Concordia submitted the information to the Oregon Dislocated Worker Unit and the Higher Education Coordinating Commission.

It’s unclear how many of those jobs are full time. At 1,518, that’s more jobs than Concordia has on-campus students.

Concordia enrolls about 5,700 students, but sources estimate only about 1,200 of them attend class on campus. The bulk of the students study remotely via Concordia’s online classes.

Concordia stunned students and faculty alike when it announced on Monday that it would close its doors for good after the spring semester. The college has been struggling financially. It is the third small private college in the Portland to fail in the last two years.