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Union Institute & University (UI&U) was a
private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...
online university that was headquartered in
Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
. It also operated satellite campuses in Florida and California. In early 2023, it began to experience severe financial challenges. Federal financial aid was withheld, it did not pay employees for many months, and it was evicted from its headquarters in Cincinnati for failing to pay rent. The university resigned its
accreditation Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...
by the
Higher Learning Commission The Higher Learning Commission (HLC) is an institutional accreditor in the United States. It has historically accredited post-secondary education institutions in the central United States: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa ...
effective June 25, 2024. It closed permanently on June 30, 2024.


History


Creation and growth

Union Institute & University traced its origins to 1964, when the president of
Goddard College Goddard College was a Private college, private college with three locations in the United States: Plainfield, Vermont; Port Townsend, Washington; and Seattle. The college offered undergraduate and graduate degree programs. With predecessor ins ...
hosted the presidents of nine liberal arts institutions at a conference to discuss cooperation in educational innovation and experimentation. The Union for Research and Experimentation in Higher Education was established by
Antioch College Antioch College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Yellow Springs, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1850 by the Christian Connection and began operating in 1852 as a non-secta ...
,
Bard College Bard College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The campus overlooks the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains within the Hudson River Historic District ...
,
Goddard College Goddard College was a Private college, private college with three locations in the United States: Plainfield, Vermont; Port Townsend, Washington; and Seattle. The college offered undergraduate and graduate degree programs. With predecessor ins ...
, Chicago Teachers North, Monteith Masson, New College at
Hofstra University Hofstra University is a Private university, private research university in Hempstead, New York, United States. It originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University and became an independent college in 1939. Comprising ten schools, includ ...
,
Sarah Lawrence College Sarah Lawrence College (SLC) is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Yonkers, New York, United States. Founded as a Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in 1926, Sarah Lawrence College has been coeducational ...
,
Shimer College Shimer Great Books School ( ) is a Classic_book#University_programs, Great Books college that is part of North Central College in Naperville, Illinois. Prior to 2017, Shimer was an independent, accredited college on the south side of Chicago, or ...
, and
Stephens College Stephens College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Timeline of women's colleges in the United States#First and oldest, the second-oldest women's educa ...
. The "discovery" of the English
open education Open education is an educational movement founded on openness, with connections to other educational movements such as critical pedagogy, and with an educational stance which favours widening participation and inclusiveness in society. Open educa ...
movement may have played a factor in the interest in progressive education. Samuel Baskin, a psychologist and educational reformer who served on the faculty of Stephens and Antioch colleges, was the founding president of the Union for Experimenting Colleges and Universities, Union Graduate School, and the University Without Walls.
Margaret Mead Margaret Mead (December 16, 1901 – November 15, 1978) was an American cultural anthropologist, author and speaker, who appeared frequently in the mass media during the 1960s and the 1970s. She earned her bachelor's degree at Barnard Col ...
, an anthropologist and author, was one of the institution's first professors. Renamed in 1969 as the Union for Experimenting Colleges and Universities, it focused on providing educational opportunities for non-traditional students whose needs were best served by a low-residency college experience, as well as those students who sought to conduct socially relevant research in an interdisciplinary manner. The Union Graduate School's doctoral programs were based on the British
tutorial system The tutorial system is a method of university education where the main teaching method is regular, very small group sessions. These are the core teaching sessions of a degree, and are supplemented by lectures, practicals and larger group classes. ...
and the first doctoral students were admitted in 1970. From its inception, the institution had a continuing emphasis on social relevance and
interdisciplinarity Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several fields such as sociology, anthropology, psychology, economi ...
of research. By 1971, five more colleges and universities joined the Union, bringing the total consortium to 22 schools of higher education. In 1975, the number of colleges in the University Without Walls network reached 34. In 1976, the offices moved from
Yellow Springs, Ohio Yellow Springs is a Village (Ohio), village in northern Greene County, Ohio, United States. The population was 3,697 at the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census. It is part of the Greater Dayton, Dayton metropolitan area and is home to Antioch ...
, where Antioch College was located to Cincinnati. The Union of Experimenting Colleges and Universities, or UECU, disbanded in 1982, but the University Without Walls remained in operation after a Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1984. In 1989, the University Without Walls was renamed The Union Institute.


Vermont College acquisition and spin-off

The Union Institute acquired Vermont College in
Montpelier, Vermont Montpelier is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Vermont and the county seat of Washington County, Vermont, Washington County. The site of Government of Vermont, Vermont's state government, it is the Lis ...
, from
Norwich University Norwich University is a private university in Northfield, Vermont, United States. The university was founded in 1819 as the "American Literary, Scientific and Military Academy". It is the oldest of six senior military college, senior militar ...
in 2001. The purchase of Vermont College added several master's degree programs and an adult degree program to the Union's existing undergraduate and doctoral programs. This enabled The Union to provide a progression of degree opportunities, along with certificates in advanced graduate study. In October 2001, the Union Institute was renamed "Union Institute & University". In 2008, fine arts programs from Vermont College were spun off from Union into the newly independent
Vermont College of Fine Arts Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA) is a private graduate-level college affiliated with California Institute of the Arts. It offers Master's degrees in a low-residency format. Its faculty includes Pulitzer Prize finalists, National Book Award wi ...
.


Early 2000s academic issues

Union Institute & University's PhD program came under scrutiny by the
Ohio Board of Regents The Ohio Board of Regents was created in 1963 by the Ohio General Assembly to: provide higher education policy advice to the Governor of Ohio and the Ohio General Assembly; develop a strategy involving Ohio's public and independent colleges and ...
, culminating in a reauthorization report published in 2002. In response to the report, Union underwent major academic and structural changes, including dissolution of the Union Graduate School and restructuring of its PhD programs. The PhD in Arts and Sciences, for example, was redesigned as a PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies, with four majors: Ethical and Creative Leadership, Public Policy and Social Change, Humanities and Culture, and Educational Studies, and offers a specialization in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Studies. In 2004 the U.S. Department of Education also raised concerns about the quality of the institute's PhD programs.


2023 financial distress

Union Institute began to publicly experience severe financial distress in March 2023 when salaries owed to university staff were paid late. Throughout 2023, the university continued to exhibit signs of financial distress including further delayed wages and being locked out of its headquarters. Some university staff filed a class action lawsuit against the university alleging that the delayed wages violate labor laws. The lawsuit was settled in March 2024 for $110,000. The start of the fall 2023 semester was delayed from August to November, and then cancelled completely on November 15. In October, fifty doctoral students at Union signed a letter saying that the president of Union, Karen Schuster Webb, "should resign" and that the entire board of trustees should be replaced. Union was also placed on Heightened Cash Monitoring 2 by the
U.S. Department of Education The United States Department of Education is a United States Cabinet, cabinet-level department of the federal government of the United States, United States government, originating in 1980. The department began operating on May 4, 1980, havin ...
, a status that imposes oversight over its federal financial aid. In late November, they revoked Union's ability to receive federal financial aid and also fined the university $4.3 million, alleging that Union collected more federal funding that it was supposed to collect and failed to refund the federal government. In addition, the Education Department reported that the Institute had failed to refund more than $750,000 in student financial aid that had been required. As a consequence of being placed on heightened cash monitoring status, the
Higher Learning Commission The Higher Learning Commission (HLC) is an institutional accreditor in the United States. It has historically accredited post-secondary education institutions in the central United States: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa ...
, Union's accreditor, "assigned a Financial Distress designation to Union." In December 2023, a teach-out plan was announced between Union and
Antioch University Antioch University is a private university with multiple campuses in the United States and online programs. It is the continuation of Antioch College, which was founded in 1852. Antioch College's first president was politician, abolitionist, and ...
for two master's degree programs and a doctoral program. An additional teach-out plan was signed with Lasell University in Massachusetts.


Closure

In May 2024, the institute was placed on "Administrative Probation" by the Higher Learning Commission for failure to pay annual dues to the accrediting body. Shortly thereafter, Union's leaders announced that the institution would resign its accreditation effective June 25, 2024 and close entirely on June 30. Despite its June 30, 2024 closure, Union Institute is still attempting to collect past due tuition payments and withholding transcripts of students who refuse to pay. In November 2024, former students reported that months after the closure they were still unable to get transcripts from the shuttered institution. In April 2025, Union Institute filed for
Chapter 7 bankruptcy Chapter 7 of Title 11 U.S. Code is the bankruptcy code that governs the process of liquidation under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. This is in contrast to bankruptcy under Chapter 11 and Chapter 13, which govern the process of ''re ...
, citing liabilities of more than $28 million and assets of less than $200,000.


Campus locations

Originally, instruction was provided as a low-residency model at the constituent colleges of the organization. In 1996, the college acquired two buildings in Cincinnati, Time Hill and the Procter and Collier–Beau Brummell Building. It sold Time Hill in 2008 to Lighthouse Youth Services and the Procter and Collier-Beau Brummell Building to the
University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1819 and had an enrollment of over 53,000 students in 2024, making it the ...
in 2021. In 2021, it moved into a rented building at 2090 Florence Avenue in Walnut Hills, Cincinnati to serve as its headquarters, which by July 2023, the university was behind on rent "to the tune of more than $367,000." In August 2023, the university was locked out of its Cincinnati headquarters and was evicted on November 9, 2023.


Presidents

# Samuel Baskin (1965–1976) # King Virgil Cheek (1976–1978) # Kenneth W. Rothe (1978) # Robert Conley (1982–1999) # Judith Sturnick (2000–2003) # Roger H. Sublett (2003–2018) # Karen Schuster Webb (2018–2024)


Notable alumni

*
Stanley Aronowitz Stanley Aronowitz (January 6, 1933 – August 16, 2021) was an American sociologist, trade union official, and political activist. A professor of sociology, cultural studies, and urban education at the CUNY Graduate Center, his longtime political ...
(PhD 1975) trade-unionist, social critic, and scholar * E. M. Broner, novelist, professor and feminist. Author of ''A Weave of Women and Her Mothers''. Taught for
Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public university, public research university in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 375 programs. It is Michigan's third-l ...
and
Sarah Lawrence College Sarah Lawrence College (SLC) is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Yonkers, New York, United States. Founded as a Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in 1926, Sarah Lawrence College has been coeducational ...
* Brother Blue, street performance artist, and instructor *
Rita Mae Brown Rita Mae Brown (born November 28, 1944) is an American feminist writer, best known for her coming-of-age autobiographical novel, '' Rubyfruit Jungle''. Brown was active in a number of civil rights campaigns and criticized the marginalization of l ...
, poet and author of ''
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'' * Joseph Bruchac, writer, educator, and storyteller; Lifetime Achievement Award from the
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* Danny K. Davis, congressman, Illinois 7th District * Gary Dorrien, Reinhold Niebuhr Professor of Social Ethics,
Union Theological Seminary Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York (shortened to UTS or Union) is a Private college, private ecumenical liberal Christian seminary in Morningside Heights, Manhattan, affiliated with Columbia University since 1928. Presently, Co ...
, New York * Lez Edmond, civil rights activist, author, and professor at St. John's University * Clarissa Pinkola Estés,
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analyst and author of ''Women Who Run With The Wolves'' * Gerald Haslam, author, ''Workin' Man Blues'', ''Straight White Male'', ''Coming of Age in California'' * Carl Hausman, professor of journalism at
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*
Jean Houston Jean Houston (born 10 May 1937) is an American author involved in the human potential movement. Along with her husband, Robert Masters, she co-founded the Foundation for Mind Research. Biography Early life and education Houston was born in New ...
, author and lecturer, co-founder of the Foundation for Mind Research *
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, theater, film and television director * Michael T. Klare, professor of Peace and World Security Studies,
Hampshire College Hampshire College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. It was opened in 1970 as an experiment in alternative education, in association with four other colleges ...
*
Bernie Krause Bernard L. Krause (born December 8, 1938) is an American musician and soundscape ecologist. In 1968, he founded Wild Sanctuary, an organization dedicated to the recording and archiving of natural soundscapes. Krause is an author, a bio-acoustici ...
, bioacoustics authority *
Elizabeth Kapuʻuwailani Lindsey Elizabeth Kapuʻuwailani Lindsey is an actor, filmmaker and anthropologist. As an anthropologist, she works "to find, preserve and share the knowledge and traditions of indigenous populations before they disappear." She is also the first female N ...
, actor, filmmaker, and anthropologist * Aurora Levins Morales, Puerto Rican writer and poet *
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, film critic, essayist, fiction writer, and poet * James P. Lyke, Roman Catholic
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; auxiliary bishop of
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(1978–1990) and archbishop of
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(1991–92) * Karyl McBride, psychotherapist and author * Portia Simpson-Miller, first female
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, 2006–2007, 2012–2016 * Scott Douglas Miller, President of Virginia Wesleyan University, former president of Bethany College, Wesley College,
Lincoln Memorial University Lincoln Memorial University (LMU) is a private university in Harrogate, Tennessee and Knoxville, Tennessee. Its Harrogate main campus borders on Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. , it had 1,605 undergraduate and 4,200 graduate and profe ...
*
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, radio personality, alternative medicine practitioner, nutritionist, and HIV-AIDS denialist * Antonia Pantoja, educator, social worker, civil rights leader, and founder of ''ASPIRA'', Boricua College, and Producer * Ellen Jane Lorenz Porter, composer and editor * Lincoln Ragsdale, member of the
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and real estate developer * Jane O'Meara Driscoll Sanders, Interim President of
Goddard College Goddard College was a Private college, private college with three locations in the United States: Plainfield, Vermont; Port Townsend, Washington; and Seattle. The college offered undergraduate and graduate degree programs. With predecessor ins ...
, (1996–97) president of Burlington College, 2004–2011 * James Turner, founding Director of
Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...
's Africana Studies and Research Center * Clayton Valli, poet and linguist


References


Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Union Institute and University 1964 establishments in Ohio 2024 disestablishments in Ohio Universities and colleges established in 1964 Greater Cincinnati Consortium of Colleges and Universities Private universities and colleges in Ohio Educational institutions disestablished in 2024 Companies that filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2025