Concordia University System


The Concordia University System is an organization of seven colleges and universities and one satellite campus in the United States that are operated by the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod. All of the institutions are named "Concordia"—a reference to the Latin title of The Book of Concord, the collection of Lutheran confessions—and all include professional church work programs as part of their curricula. The CUS was formed in 1992. As of 2011, 28,421 students attend Concordia University System institutions.
Each Concordia is independent and has its own president, faculty, and board of regents. At the same time, the schools interact with one another and share some resources and services. One service offered by the CUS, the Simultaneous Enrollment Program, allows any student enrolled at one Concordia to attend another CUS college for up to a year as a "visiting student". During that time, visiting students are considered to be enrolled at both CUS institutions simultaneously.

Member institutions

The eight campuses in the Concordia University System are:
Concordia University Ann Arbor merged with Concordia University Wisconsin in 2013. Concordia College Alabama, in Selma, Alabama, was a member of the Concordia University System until its closure in 2018 and Concordia University in Portland, Oregon, was also a member until its closure in 2020.

Non-member Concordias

There are several educational institutions that are named "Concordia" but are not part of the Concordia University System. For example, neither of the LCMS seminaries are part of CUS. The non-accredited Concordia College and University is in no way affiliated with the Concordia University System or its nine campuses.
The educational institutions of the Lutheran Church–Canada are not part of the CUS even though that church body was originally part of the LCMS and remains associated with it. Those institutions are Concordia University College of Alberta and Concordia Lutheran Seminary, both in Edmonton, and Concordia Lutheran Theological Seminary in St. Catharines.
Other Concordias that are affiliated with neither the CUS nor the LCMS include Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, and Concordia University in Montreal. For additional universities named Concordia, see Concordia University.