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 to pay outstanding debts. As a result, 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. Faculty contracts were restored in August 2022. ==Academics==