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About Midland University

A Brief History of Midland University

Founded in 1883, Midland University is the product of college and church mergers. Midland College was established at Atchison, Kansas, by the General Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church on September 15, 1887. The name Midland College was selected because of its central location in the United States.

In 1919, the college moved to Fremont, Nebraska. The Fremont property had previously been called Fremont Normal School and Business College. In 1962, Midland merged with Luther Junior College (founded in Wahoo, Nebraska, in 1883). Midland College then became Midland Lutheran College, and finally, in 2010, Midland Lutheran College was re-founded as Midland University to facilitate consolidation around areas of strength and greater expansion into graduate-level education.

Midland University's Mission

Midland University inspires people to learn and lead in the world with purpose.

Midland University's Vision

To provide relevant, innovative, and dynamic learning experiences for our students by working from the marketplace back to ensure their career readiness. We strive every day to be relentlessly relevant.

Midland University's Vision Statement of Core Institutional Values

Midland University is a liberal arts college affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. We hold the following core values to be the foundation of our identity as a community.

  • Faith - We believe as a college of the Lutheran tradition that faith and learning are inexorably linked. We believe that the exploration of faith and religion is an essential human endeavor.
  • Quality - We believe in upholding exacting standards of quality and accountability. We believe in a learning experience where excellence in all things is valued and expected by all our constituents - our faculty, staff, students, alumni, trustees, and friends.
  • Respect - We believe in the sanctity of the individual in a mutually supportive community of a small college. Therefore, we believe in a focus on each person as an individual with inherent worth.
  • Stewardship - We believe we are called to educate morally and ethically responsible citizens of a pluralistic society. In this endeavor, we are guided by the ideas of service, integrity, and mutual respect.
  • Learning - We believe that learning is best based on open inquiry and the liberal arts. We believe that an appreciation of the empirical, theoretical and aesthetic forms of knowledge is critical to the development of citizens who can respond to an ever-changing world.