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Two Christian colleges in North Carolina, Piedmont International University and John Wesley University, plan to merge next year -- three years after Piedmont completed another merger.
Piedmont, located in Winston-Salem, enrolls 750 students, the Winston-Salem Journal reported. John Wesley, located in High Point, enrolls 150. Administrators consider the two institutions the largest evangelical universities in the Piedmont Triad in the north-central part of North Carolina.
The merged university would keep Piedmont’s name and have its chapel and school of leadership named after John Wesley, who helped to found Methodism in the 1700s. University leaders said both institutions are stable financially but will have more influence together. John Wesley University brings a business management school and nursing partnership to the merger, while Piedmont has been increasing enrollment and has strong online programs, administrators told the Winston-Salem Journal.
Trustees at the two institutions have approved the merger. It’s expected to take effect June 1, provided the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools gives approval.
The merger would come about three years after Piedmont absorbed a financially struggling Christian college, Tennessee Temple University in Chattanooga, in May of 2015. Some Tennessee Temple students enrolled at Piedmont, and it hired some of Tennessee Temple’s faculty members and administrators.
