Millikin University is now in Partnership with Lincoln Land Community College and accepting transfer students as of 2025. This partnership will allow and ensure students from Lincoln Land Community College the opportunity to finish out their Bachelor’s Degree at Millikin University. 

Former President Jim Reynolds on this matter expressed great gratitude and happiness with this partnership.

“It is always nice and exciting to do, opening the campus to other students and allowing them to become a part of the Millikin Family,” he said.

According to Reynolds, Millikin has partnered with many institutions near the Decatur area. All the Community Colleges that Millikin has partnered with conveniently have the word “land” in them, in which Millikin refers to them as, “the lands.” These include colleges such as Richland, Parkland, Heartland, Lakeland, Lincoln Land and many more. All are within the Decatur, Springfield, Bloomington and Mattoon areas and just add onto it being considered a family. 

“Partnerships like these have been talked about and in the works for years,” Reynolds said.

According to Reynolds, the biggest issue was that some courses taken at community colleges don’t transfer over to Millikin, including specialized requirements in general courses MU had, which made it difficult for students to come to Millikin to finish their majors. 

Since then, many faculty and staff have worked hard on analyzing different curriculums and standards to make sure that those transfer students are completely set once here at Millikin. This is to ensure that students with an Associate’s degree in certain areas or who only have a few semesters left can transfer their degree here and complete all their general education requirements. 

Other aspects of importance to the former president and Millikin on this matter is making sure to provide those students with more opportunities and access. It is also about enrollment and increasing the number of transfer students on campus. 

“The part of the higher education industry that is going to be the most resilient is Community Colleges,” he said. “Partnerships like these help the community colleges due to their funds being structured by the state of Illinois in relation to the number of students that go on to earn a bachelor’s degree.” 

As it pertains to what transfer students can expect coming to Millikin, whether in education or sports, there is no limit. For the most part, community colleges have different models than small, private universities like Millikin or others. Millikin is able to give those students a bit more leeway and opportunities.

These opportunities will include things like athletics, a robust variety of the Fine Arts programs, inclusive of music, instruments, theater, and dance. There will also be almost 70 student organizations on campus to date that transfer students can look forward to. This allows them to build relationships with the community, staff, students and any other organizations they want on campus. It is not only about them finishing their Bachelors Degree.

“We hope to add all those different experiences and enrich their education in ways that they might not have access to at community colleges,” Reynolds said.

As a result, to embrace the transfer students, Millikin University wants them to know that they are dedicated, willing, and able to make this the best experience for them. President Reynolds invites them to look forward to a caring and loving faculty to help them be successful in whatever areas they desire. He also hopes that the transfer students from Lincoln Land Community College, as well as others can expect ease of transfer, affordability, and overall, a campus culture that celebrates and supports its students. 

Some ways in which Millikin is getting the word out for other transfer students are through social media and sending transfer counselors to different colleges. These counselors are able to have sit downs answering questions and signings. This may include a quick transcript review comparing curriculums, and courses they have already taken, and what would be expected at Millikin. When it comes to tuition plans, it is the same as Millikin students where they have access to several different plans and scholarships. One scholarship if eligible, is the Illinois Big Blue Pledge Program, a program that can help reduce the cost for certain students. To qualify for the Big Blue Pledge you must submit your FASFA, be an Illinois Resident, be eligible for a Federal Pell Grant, and be enrolled full-time. Other financial implications, in state or out of state, staying on campus or at home plans are also discussed in these conversations. Simply speaking, there are an array of things Millikin does to advertise, bringing in more transfer students.  

The Lincoln Land Community College partnership and any other university partnerships Millikin has are effective immediately, meaning if those transfer students would like to start in the summer depending on the classes and programs they are looking for, they can. Or if they would like to wait until the Fall semester starts, there is no issue there either. 

When asked if there were any more future partnerships in store for Millikin, Reynolds mentioned that the university is currently in progress of working with Illinois Central College which is near Peoria. They are now in agreement with Illinois Eastern Community Colleges (IECC), which is a group of small community colleges on the East side of the state. Millikin has plans to go up North to Kankakee, and even further South to see if there are any students who are looking for what Millikin has to offer. There will be a host of different regions in Central Illinois on the agenda looking forward to as it pertains to future partnerships with Millikin University. 

“Our faculty did a stellar job with examining how to make it easier for students to transfer to Millikin and make it less burdensome for them. I think for us creating a financial model for the students at community college that make it easier for them to afford a place like Millikin is really significant and I am proud of the work done here,” Reynolds said.