NEW YORK — The King’s College – the four-year school forced to shut its doors to students in 2023 under a mountain of debt– is seeking to resume operations in an effort to “create a significant center for Christian higher learning.”   

In a four-page request for proposal, the private Christian college’s board of trustees said it “intends to gift the college, including its charter and intellectual property … to likeminded evangelical Christians who propose the most compelling vision to resume the operations of the college to serve Kingdom purposes.”   

The King’s College announced on July 17, 2023, that it would suspend operations starting that fall – after laying off its faculty –until further notice after failing to raise $2.6 million needed to stay open. The school’s fundraising efforts only raised $178,000 towards that gargantuan effort.

After having its accreditation revoked by the New York State Education Department, the Christian liberal arts college decided to temporarily close while in search of what it called at the time a “strategic alliance.”

The school had been seeking such an alliance as far back as January 2023 after terminating its partnership with Canadian-based Primacorp Ventures — an independent firm founded by billionaire Peter Chung in 1995 with a focus on providing private education — in April of the same year.

The school’s current board, the document obtained by Religion Unplugged noted, “seeks to entrust TKC to like-minded evangelical Christians who possess a Kingdom vision and sufficient resources to create a significant center for Christian higher learning.”

School officials would not comment on the proposal.

Since the college’s temporary closing, the King’s board has spent the past 18 months “diligently” negotiating with creditors and regulators, according to the proposal document.  

Last year, The King’s College sold its dorm building for $15.25 million, which went towards paying creditors.  

“All tangible assets have been sold, with proceeds used to retire debt,” the school said in the proposal. “Settlement and release agreements have been negotiated with the largest remaining creditors. Funding required to implement these agreements has been identified, and the Board intends for the College to be debt-free by mid-2025. TKC must either dissolve or present a go-forward plan to the New York State Education Department by July 15, 2025.”

As a result, King’s has put forth an aggressive timeline. Anyone interested needs to submit a letter by Feb. 7 summarizing “the proposed vision and affirm faith alignment, planning capacity and the adequacy of resources,” King’s said in the proposal.

In the document, King’s said it wants to have a finalist in place by July. 

The search for a partner has been a fruitless one for King’s in the past. One potential partner in 2023, Alliance University (formerly known as Nyack College), also announced its closure after losing its accreditation. As a result of Alliance and King’s closures, there are currently no evangelical Christian colleges operating in New York City.

Founded in 1938 by preacher Percy Crawford and established in Belmar, N.J., the college relocated to Delaware in 1941 and later to Briarcliff Manor, N.Y. in 1955. After losing its accreditation, the college closed in 1994.

After being taken over by Cru (formerly known as Campus Crusade for Christ) and acquiring Northeastern Bible College, The King's College reopened in 1999 with space in the Empire State Building. The college became independent of Campus Crusade in 2012. For nearly a decade, King’s largely relied on donations from wealthy and politically conservative donors such as Richard DeVos, the co-founder of Amway and father-in-law of former education secretary Betsy DeVos during President Donald Trump’s first term.  

In an effort to stem financial losses stemming from the deaths of Devos and his wife Helen, King’s partnered with Primacorp in 2021 to create a for-profit, online education venture that ultimately failed. During and after the pandemic, King’s faced massive financial challenges stemming largely from a drop in enrollment and mismanagement on the part of Primacorp.  

The Middle States Commission on Higher Education officially withdrew accreditation from The King's College in August 2023. The college – located in Manhattan’s Financial District – did not open for classes in the fall of 2023 after it stopped accepting applications. 

Religion Unplugged, a non-profit news website, is operated by The Media Project, which had offices at The King’s College before the school’s sudden closure.  

Clemente Lisi is the executive editor of Religion Unplugged. He previously served as deputy head of news at the New York Daily News and a longtime reporter at The New York Post. Follow him on X @ClementeLisi.