Yellowstone Christian College (YCC) is nearing the end of its first semester at its new Kalispell-area campus after the school relocated most of its students, staff and athletics from Billings over the summer.
“At this point we’re calling the Kalispell location an extension site, or teaching site, while the main campus in Billings is still on the market,” said YCC President Marvin Jones.
In March, Jones announced to students and staff that the college had purchased property 10 miles west of Kalispell for around $7 million. The campus was formerly owned by Summit Preparatory School and is a 563-acre property with eight buildings, including two residence halls.
“Everything about this location was appealing, especially moving from 13 acres to more than 500,” Jones said. “We knew the old campus wouldn’t allow for the type of growth we wanted to accommodate.”
YCC was originally founded in the 1970s as Yellowstone Baptist College and focused on training pastors and church leaders, but rebranded as Yellowstone Christian College in 2010 adding bachelor’s degrees in psychology, business and sports management.
According to Jones, there are currently 25 students and four full-time faculty members that made the move to the Flathead for the inaugural semester. The school maintains a presence in Billings with two staff members and around 30 students and has a 15-student cohort at the Little Big Horn College in Crow Agency, where YCC has an articulation agreement to help students earn business degrees.
Jones says that the Kalispell-area campus will be the main traditional campus with students living onsite, while YCC hopes to continue offering classes in Billings and Little Big Horn College, which will cater to nontraditional students. The old campus in Billings is currently for sale for $5.6 million.
Going forward the college is planning to add an associate’s degree in early childhood development that will expand to a four-year teaching certificate and the school is looking to add a social work and criminal justice degree in the next school year as well.
“We’re only projecting two years out, but we’re hoping enrollment in Kalispell will be close to 70 next year and then 110 the following year,” Jones said.
Another perk of the new campus is the expanded opportunities for athletics. The Centurions are members of the National Christian College Athletic Association and 17 members of the student body competed on athletic teams in the 2020-2021 school year. YCC currently offers two sports, men’s basketball and men’s and women’s cross country, but plans to add volleyball or next fall.
On the Billings campus the Centurions basketball team practiced at a nearby church and played its home games at the Shrine Auditorium. The new location has an indoor pool, weight room, gymnasium, and soccer fields as well as easy access to numerous roads and trails to run on, a benefit for cross country coach Eoyoall Aklilu.
“There’s so many places to train around here,” Aklilu said. “It’s such a beautiful area, everyone would love to be able to run here.”