Graceland University is a member of the North Central Association and is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, www.ncahlc.org, (800) 621-7440.
Graceland University's teacher education programs are accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), www.ncate.org.
The nursing programs are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), www.aacn.nche.edu, and are approved by the Missouri State Board of Nursing and the Iowa Board of Nursing.
These academic standards ensure that a degree from Graceland University will be recognized by educational, business, and professional communities.
This catalog is an official document of Graceland University, and the programs and policies in it have been approved by the Board of Trustees or its duly authorized agents.
While these programs and policies may be subject to change without notice, the university publishes this catalog with the intention that students can expect reasonable continuity in academic areas.
Changes in other areas — such as cost, campus life, the housing arrangement — occur in an orderly fashion.
Graceland University was founded in 1895 by the Community of Christ church as a “non-sectarian institution of higher education [open] to all people.” More than 110 years later, Graceland is still committed to providing a solid liberal arts education to a diverse student population. Today, Graceland students represent 39 states and 37 countries and can choose from more than 40 academic majors.
Graceland began as a high school academy and four-year college. In 1917, became Iowa’s first accredited junior college. The university’s mission took another decisive turn in the late 1950s by founding a four-year program, graduating its first BA degree in 1958.
In 1971, Graceland granted its first baccalaureate degree in nursing. Students in that program spend two years on the Lamoni campus followed by two years on the university’s Independence, Missouri, campus. In 1987, the college launched an Outreach Nursing Program for registered nurses that has evolved into complete online degree programs in healthcare and education.
Recognizing that not everyone who would like to earn a degree can attend traditional college classes, Graceland’s campus-based studies was established in the late 1990s to create opportunities for baccalaureate degree completion programs at two-year institutions. Students can transfer credits from previously attended colleges and complete their junior and senior coursework at Graceland by attending classes taught on area community college campuses.
The university’s first graduate degree program was launched in 1994. The Master of Arts in Religion became the first program in the Community of Christ Seminary, which was established in 2002. Currently, students can earn a Master’s degree in Education, Religion, Christian Studies, or Nursing. The Center for the Study of the Korean War, a unique primary resource library and archive, became a part of the Independence Campus in 2000. The Sandage Center for the Study of Free Enterprise is located on the Lamoni Campus.
While many aspects of campus life have changed through its first 110 years, Graceland University has been true to its commitment to provide a quality liberal arts education that contributes to the growth of the whole student.
Vision
Graceland University will become a recognized educational leader, inspiring and empowering persons for transformational service and leadership.
Mission
Graceland creates learning communities where students develop their potential for meaningful and productive lives.
Values
Graceland values learning, wholeness, and community. Graceland encourages the development of these values for the enrichment of lives and the betterment of the world.
Learning
We believe in the life long process of the open and free pursuit of truth.
Wholeness
We believe that the development of the intellectual, physical, social, and spiritual dimensions of all persons is necessary for healthy and fulfilling lives.
Community
We appreciate and welcome diversity and, as an institution sponsored by the Community of Christ, believe in the inherent worth of all persons expressed through relationships built on the foundation of unconditional love and acceptance.
Graceland University educates students for advanced study, for productive careers, and for rich lives. Its student body is a targeted, yet diverse group that includes persons of different ages, backgrounds, and national origins who share a commitment to learning. Its curriculum, firmly rooted in the liberal arts tradition and enhanced by career-oriented practical experiences, affirms different styles of learning and prepares students to become competent professionals. Its highly qualified faculty excel in teaching and engage in scholarly, creative and professional activities. Together with the administration and staff, they care deeply about students.
Graceland offers a learning environment for the residential as well as the non-residential student that nurtures personal growth. Its challenging academic program stresses the joy of lifelong learning, the rigor of intellectual discipline, and the relationship of both to a satisfying professional and personal life. Its size fosters genuine concern for the individual while providing fellowship and a sense of belonging. For the residential student, its rich co-curricular program of interest groups, athletics, student government, residential life, and leisure activities provides opportunity to develop interpersonal skills, relationships, creativity, and leadership.
Based on the Christian values of human dignity, mutual respect, and social responsibility, Graceland welcomes persons of all faiths. It actively supports the counsel of its sponsoring denomination, the Community of Christ, to “learn by study and by faith” and indeed offers tangible expression of the church’s commitment to the open and free pursuit of knowledge through higher education.
Graceland promotes opportunity, justice, and world peace through practical and visionary action.
The people of Graceland University
help students grow to
work, care, and enjoy life intelligently.
Toward these goals, we help students nurture their abilities to
think, learn, and communicate;
develop broad knowledge and sound values;
lead and cooperate in building a better world.
- To communicate effectively orally and in writing.
- To be knowledgeable about the sciences.
- To be knowledgeable and appreciative of the arts and humanities.
- To develop thinking skills including quantitative analysis.
- To develop sound values and ethical consciousness.
- To develop skills of collaboration, leadership, and change.
- To be knowledgeable and appreciative of human diversity as expressed in cultures other than one's own.
- To be competent in using current technology for information processing.
- To know and apply the principles of healthful living including worthwhile use of leisure time.
- To make meaningful connections between disciplines.
It is the policy of Graceland University to extend equal opportunities to all applicants for employment, to all employees seeking advancement, and to all students applying for enrollment who meet the basic criteria established. It is further the policy of Graceland University not to discriminate against any employee, prospective employee, student, or prospective student, on the basis of race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, or disability.
Graceland University is committed to the elimination of those conditions and attitudes from which discrimination is spawned and desires to give leadership in solving those problems that impede the broad application of justice and equity in all human relationships. A university with a Christian commission has a mandate to search for and apply these principles of fairness in all aspects of its operation over and above its legal obligation to comply with the tenants of Equal Opportunity requirements.
Graceland University offers a quality educational program at multiple locations using various course delivery-methods to provide opportunities for many students. Students may take Graceland University courses at the following locations.
The home campus, located in Lamoni, Iowa, provides education for many full- and part-time residential students, who seek the Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Arts (Honors), Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Science (Honors), or Master of Education degrees in 43 different majors. Courses are available for non-degree seeking students interested in enrolling for personal enrichment.
In addition to degree programs, Graceland University offers courses for personal enrichment at the Lamoni and Independence locations, as well as through the Center for Professional Development and Life-Long Learning, Inc., which includes SkillPath Seminars located in Overland Park, Kansas.
The Graceland University Independence Campus located at 1401 West Truman Road in Independence, Missouri, provides on campus education for students pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Bachelor of Arts in Business, Bachelor of Arts in Education, or a Master of Education degree. The Independence Campus is also home to our online programs which allow students the flexibility to earn either the RN to B.S.N. or B.A. degree, a Master of Science in Nursing, or a Master of Education degree. In addition, a Master of Arts in Christian Ministry and a Master of Arts in Religion can be earned through combined on campus and online courses.
Several off-campus sites share in the extended campus experience, and allow non-traditional students the opportunity to complete their degrees or pursue a Master's degree. North Central Missouri College in Trenton, Missouri, and Indian Hills Community College in Centerville, Iowa, assist students in completion degrees in undergraduate Elementary Education. Students transfer credits from previously attended colleges and complete their junior and senior coursework with Graceland by attending classes offered in their area. Undergraduate students benefit from Graceland's articulation and equivalency agreements. The Master of Education in Collaborative Learning and Teaching is offered at Grant Wood AEA in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Graceland University campus in Independence, Missouri. Off-campus courses are offered evenings and weekends, allowing most students to hold a job, fulfill family and community obligations and still earn a degree.
The academic year is most often divided into five nine-week terms, but alternative scheduling may also be available. Classes are offered in a variety of formats including: 1) Traditional classes — Classes offered at the community college campus or on the Graceland campus taught by Graceland University faculty and adjunct professors; 2) Online classes. Courses may be taken by campus students as part of their normal class load on a space-available basis.
For more information concerning Graceland's non-residential programs, please call 1-800-833-0524 or visit our website on the Graceland University homepage at www.graceland.edu.
