After five years of talks about the survival of small, Christian-oriented colleges in the increasingly competitive world of higher education, Piedmont Baptist College and Graduate School of Winston-Salem and Atlantic Baptist Bible College will merge their institutions at the end of this year.
The two schools have much in common, said Charles W. Petitt, the president of Piedmont. Both schools train people in ministry and communications, with an emphasis on personal attention.
All of Atlantic's students plan to transfer to Piedmont, Petitt said. That means that about 13 students who are on Atlantic's campus in Chester, Va., will come to Piedmont in January. An additional five students in the online program have said that they would transfer to Piedmont.
Atlantic will close and its 40-acre campus, which has an estimated value of $1.8 to $2.4 million. It will be sold, and the proceeds will be used to establish a scholarship and endowment at Piedmont in Atlantic's name, Petitt said.
Piedmont will also hold all of Atlantic's transcripts and alumni records, he said.
Atlantic was chartered in 1961 as Virginia Bible College. It took the name Atlantic in 1972.
Piedmont was founded in 1945 and has more than 400 students in its residential and online programs. The school awards undergraduate, master's and doctoral degrees.
Petitt said that he and Paul Monroe, the president of Atlantic, have been friends for about five years and had regularly talked about Atlantic's dwindling enrollment.
Piedmont had merged with Spurgeon Baptist Bible College in 2004, and the success of that merger might have encouraged Atlantic to consider a similar plan, Petitt said.
Several other small Christian schools have closed recently, Petitt said, and he said he expects there to be more mergers between schools with similar missions.
"Many of these schools have been struggling before the economy got worse," he said.
Pillsbury Baptist Bible College in Owatonna, Minn., will close at the end of the year. About 15 to 20 students from that school are expected to transfer to Piedmont, Petitt said.
Beth Ashburn, the provost at Piedmont, said that there is sadness whenever any school closes, but Piedmont is doing its best to ensure a smooth transition for Atlantic students.
Having a group of new students come on campus in the middle of the year should be energizing for Piedmont, she said.
"We really do want them to know they're a part of us," she said. "It's kind of fun when you're small because it's an unusual sort of growth to have."
■ Mary Giunca can be reached at 727-4089 or at mgiunca@wsjournal.com.
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