The Spokane campus of City University, an accredited four-year college for working adults, has scaled back its Spokane presence greatly and is no longer accepting new students here.


Ten students, who currently are enrolled in two City University programs, will complete those programs here over the next two years, says Eric Bruton, City Universitys Tri-Cities-based regional director for this area. Those programs are for a masters of business administration and bachelors of science in business administration, Bruton says. The schools peak enrollment here was 40 students.


The school, which has been located on the first floor of an office building at 1500 W. Fourth for more than a decade, currently is moving to a smaller fourth-floor suite in the same building, where it will lease space for a single classroom, he says. The Bellevue, Wash.-based privately funded school has had a Spokane branch since 1978.


City University doesnt have firm plans for its future in the Spokane area, Bruton says. The school is still considering its options for how best to serve the community, says Joanie Parsons, of Parsons Public Relations, a Seattle firm that represents City University.


Enrollment in City Universitys programs here had dwindled over the past several years, Bruton says. He claims the school began losing students to large state-funded schools, such as Washington State University and Eastern Washington University, that opened branch operations in Spokane. Those locations offered some programs that were similar to City Universitys, but at a lower cost, he says. Similar situations made it difficult to compete all over the state, but competition was especially high in Spokane, he says.


Spokane is probably one of the most competitive areas, education-wise, in the state, he says. The Spokane location of City University is one of many that have scaled back, while only one of the schools locationsthe campus in the Tri-Citieshas expanded, he says. City University at one time had 27 campuses around the world. It currently has 12 locations, 10 of them in the U.S.


Most recently, City Universitys Spokane campus had three employees, including Bruton. His office has been moved to the Tri-Cities, and the other two positions have been eliminated, Bruton says. Currently, two part-time adjunct professors are teaching classes here, he says.


City University was founded in 1973. Along with attending classes on its campuses, students also can take courses by correspondence or via the Internet.