Hannibal–LaGrange University (HLGU), formerly Hannibal–LaGrange College, is a private Christian university in Hannibal, Missouri. It is affiliated with the Missouri Baptist Convention, which is part of the Southern Baptist Convention. It enrolls 671 (2020) students and offers 29 majors. Although the university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, it is currently on probation for issues related to its finances, governing board, and issues related to sufficiency of faculty and staff. History Hannibal–LaGrange University was created as the result of the 1928 merger of LaGrange College (founded in 1858 as the LaGrange Male and Female Seminary) in LaGrange, Missouri, and Hannibal College in Hannibal. In October 2022, the trustees at Hannibal–LaGrange University elected Robert Matz as the 18th president of the university. Living former presidents include Anthony W. Allen(17th president), Woodrow Burt (16th president), Paul Brown (15th president), and Larry Lewis (14th president), a graduate of Luther Rice Seminary, who left HLGU to be the president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Home Mission Board (now the North American Mission Board), one of the largest mission agencies in the world. In 2010, the Missouri Baptist Convention voted to change the institution's name to Hannibal–LaGrange University after a bid to change the name to "University of Hannibal" was voted down. As a Christian school, the university was granted an exception to Title IX in 2015 which allows it to legally discriminate against protected classes (religion, sexual orientation, gender identity). Following several years of declining enrollment, Hannibal–LaGrange University experienced severe financial challenges in 2021 and 2022. These challenges were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic with enrollment declining to 780 students in 2021, down from over 1,000 students a decade prior. The institution raised $1.5 million in the span of a few months in early 2022 but needed $2.2 million so numerous faculty and staff were fired, salaries reduced, retirement matching eliminated and programs closed. All faculty contracts were terminated as a result of the institution's declaration of financial exigency. Academics The university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. In November of 2022, the commission placed HLGU on probation because it determined that the institution is out of compliance with HLC requirements related to institutional resources, the (lack of) autonomy of its governing board, and insufficiency of faculty and staff. Hannibal–LaGrange University offers undergraduate programs and two fully online graduate programs, a Master of Science (M.S.) in Education and a Master of Arts