Trinity Christian College in Palos Heights is cutting between six to eight of its roughly 65 faculty members and 10 of its 150 staff members, according to school President Aaron Kuecker.
School officials said these cuts are both part of its effort to keep a balanced budget and reduce the student debt accumulated by students.
“As with any business, we’re paying attention to revenues and expenses and thinking about that, sort of, over the long term,” Kuecker said.
He added the school dropped tuition cost by 40% this year to reduce the need for financial aid and debt. Tuition costs $19,800 per year, down from $33,800.
“We got a real focus on financial health here,” Kuecker said. “But to be an institution that does that for students we have to pay attention to the wider institutional well-being as any institution would.”
Kuecker said there may be slight increases to class sizes for students but also mentioned the school plans to bring in part-time or adjunct faculty to fill in vacancies caused by layoffs.
Trinity has paired these cost-saving decisions with other alterations to the school environment which Kuecker says have greatly increased to quality of the student experience.
One such change is the implementation of Wellbeing Wednesdays Initiative, which means no classes are offered on hump day. During this time, some students take time for themselves while others get jobs and internships which help them earn money to pay for school or other bills.
“They are really about shifting our culture and really trying to live into a commitment for student well-being,” said Leah Fulton, Trinity’s vice president for student success. “For some students it’s more rest and for others it may be work to cover the costs of college.”
The college has seen an uptick in overall GPAs since the program was created in the fall of 2022, Fulton said, although she said it is difficult to prove causality.
