Lincoln Business College was a business college located in Lincoln, Nebraska, United States. It was founded in 1884, and by 1925 had merged with the Nebraska School of Business to become the Lincoln School of Commerce. It later became Hamilton College, Kaplan University, and its ultimate successor was the Lincoln branch of Purdue University Global, which shuttered the college in 2021.
History
The school was founded in 1884 by F.F. Roose.Hayes, A.B. and Sam D. Cox. History of the City of Lincoln, Nebraska, p. 243 (1889) Its original location was in an office building at the corner of Eleventh and O Streets. It subsequently moved to the Oliver Building at Thirteenth and P streets, where it remained for 16 years. In 1914, it moved to a new building on the northwest corner of Fourteenth and P Streets.Sawyer, Andrew J. Lincoln: the capital city and Lancaster County, Nebraska, Volume 1, p. 234 (1916)(2 September 1915). Lincoln A Great Center for Educational Activities, Omaha Bee, p.2 E.C. Bigger was president of the college in the 1910s.Patterson's American Educational Directory, Vol. 18, p. 287 (1921)
By 1925, the Lincoln Business College and Nebraska School of Business (a former location of Brown's Business College) were merged and became the Lincoln School of Commerce.Lincoln School of Commerce , Nebraska Memories, Retrieved March 14, 2013Lincoln School of Commerce History, lscadvantage.com (July 16, 1997 page via archive.org) The school's former building on 14th Street was still standing as of 2025 and was occupied by restaurants and nonprofit collaborate working space.
Later history
In April 1997, many years after the school relocated to K Street in the 1960s, the Lincoln School of Commerce was acquired by Educational Medical, Inc.(1 April 1997). Educational Medical, Inc. Acquires Two Schools In a Pooling of Interests, PR Newswire Educational Medical (renamed as Quest Education Corporation) was acquired by Kaplan, Inc., in 2000, and in 2004 the school was renamed the Lincoln campus of Iowa-based Hamilton College.(2 February 2004). Lincoln School of Commerce Changes Name to Hamilton College – Lincoln , Kaplanhighered.com (Kaplan press release), Nebraska History, Retrieved March 14, 2013 ("The Lincoln Business College was the predecessor to the Lincoln School of Commerce, which is now Hamilton College.") In October 2007, all of the Hamilton campuses were merged into Kaplan University.(30 October 2007). Hamilton, Kaplan merge, Boston Globe (Associated Press)
Athletics The Lincoln School of Commerce competed in college athletics as part of the National Junior College Athletic Association. Following the name change to Hamilton College, the school's teams were known as the Hamilton Aliens.
Notable alumni Samuel Roy McKelvie (1901), Governor of Nebraska (1919–1923) Theodore C. Diers, Wyoming state representative and senator Mari Sandoz (1921), historian and novelist
References