History

Midwestern College opened in 1965 as a for-profit school, based on the model and spurred by the success of Parsons College.  At the core of the model was the belief that a significant college-age population existed, including students that had not been successful at a previous school.  Therefore a successful college could be organized by actively recruiting these students and giving them a “second chance” at success.

By 1965 residents of Denison had raised $350,000 as a fund to begin college operations.  Projections were that by 1970 the college would have an enrollment of 3,000 and that the town’s economy would realize more than two million dollars annually.  Initial enrollment was 588 students from a pool of 800 applications.  The school reported that the students were equally divided across class rank and financial status.  Most students were from Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Ohio.   These students were introduced to a “no-frills” curriculum taught by an expensive faculty—more than 70% of whom had doctorates. 

The second year saw enrollment top one thousand; it also saw the Sophomore class introduce the Freshmen to beanies and initiation.  But it was not long before the term “financially troubled” was used in reference to Midwestern.  After one year, the football program was dropped to save money.  When Iowa began investigating the possibility of creating a fourth state university in the western part of the state, Denison offered Midwestern as a ready-made campus, but this offer was not adopted.

By the fall of 1970 only 450 students enrolled for classes, well below the threshold figure for survival, so the college officially closed on October 1 with almost three million dollars of indebtedness.