| Abbreviation | CUS |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1992; 32 years ago (1992) |
| Purpose | Lutheran higher education |
| Headquarters | St. Louis, Missouri, United States |
Parent organization | Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod |
| Website | cus |
The Concordia University System (CUS) is an organization of five colleges and universities and one satellite campus in the United States that are operated by the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod (LCMS). 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. In 2011, 28,421 students attend Concordia University System institutions.[1] In 2021, the official website for the system claimed an enrollment of over 35,000 students.[2]
Each Concordia except the one in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is independent and has its own president, faculty, and board of regents; Concordia University Ann Arbor is now a satellite campus of Concordia University Wisconsin. 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.
The 2019 convention of the LCMS passed Resolution 7-03 to create a new governance model for the schools. In February 2021, a committee appointed the synod's board of directors tentatively proposed a new model under which each school's board of regents and administration would be responsible for its own property and business matters, while the CUS would be replaced with a Commission on University Education which would govern the "ecclesiastical functions and connections of the schools" and would establish "ecclesiastical accreditation process". The plan is not complete and the committee is receiving comments from interested parties in the LCMS.[3]
The six campuses in the Concordia University System are:
Several former members of CUS have closed: Concordia College Alabama, in Selma, Alabama, closed in 2018;[4] Concordia UniversityinPortland, Oregon, closed in 2020;[5] and Concordia College–New YorkinBronxville, New York, closed in 2021.[6] Concordia University TexasinAustin, Texas was part of the system, but filed for a governance independent of CUS and the LCMS and had declined to seat regents elected at the 2023 LCMS convention.[7] As of 2024[update], the university is in a legal dispute with the LCMS over ownership and accountability of the institution and is not considered to be a CUS or LCMS school while the court case is unsettled.[8]
There are several educational institutions named "Concordia" that are not part of the Concordia University System. For example, neither of the LCMS seminaries (Concordia Seminary and Concordia Theological Seminary) are part of CUS. The non-accredited Concordia College and University is in no way affiliated with the Concordia University System or its seven 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 of Edmonton and Concordia Lutheran Seminary, both in Edmonton, and Concordia Lutheran Theological SeminaryinSt. Catharines (which is affiliated with Brock University).
Other Concordias that are affiliated with neither the CUS nor the LCMS include Concordia CollegeinMoorhead, Minnesota, and Concordia UniversityinMontreal.
