Antioch University is a private university with multiple campuses in the United States and online programs. It is the offshoot of Antioch College, which was founded in 1852. Antioch College's first president was politician, abolitionist, and education reformer Horace Mann. In 1977, the College network was re-incorporated as Antioch University to reflect its growth across the country into numerous graduate education programs. It operates four campuses located in three states, as well as an online division and the Graduate School of Leadership and Change. All campuses of the university are regionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.
The university's four campuses are located in Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, California, Keene, New Hampshire, and Seattle. Antioch University suspended operations of Antioch College in 2008, and later sold the campus and a license to use the name "Antioch College" in 2009. Since then, the college has had no affiliation with the university.
History
19th century
Antioch College was incorporated in Ohio in 1852 and accredited by the Higher Learning Commission in 1927. In 1977, Antioch College changed its name to "Antioch University," having extended its operations beyond the college and beyond Ohio, mostly in graduate level programs.
In the early 1850s, Rebecca Pennell offered a course on teaching methods which was the first of its kind, and John Burns Weston, class of 1857, established a long-standing precedent by being both student and faculty simultaneously. He taught Greek language and literature for 20 years and remained a lifelong student.
Antioch College President Arthur Morgan launched Antioch's unique program of work and study, including student government and changing the nature of the admissions procedure, which he moved away from exams and towards more personal information on prospective students. Senior exams were graded "honors" or "pass," and students who failed could retake the exam. Morgan remained at Antioch College until 1933, when he became director of the Tennessee Valley Authority.
Antioch College's first president was Horace Mann, regarded by most historians as the father of public education in the United States.
20th century
Antioch College began a period of rapid expansion in 1964 with the acquisition of the Putney School of Education in Vermont. The campus evolved and moved several times; now it is called Antioch University New England and is located in Keene, New Hampshire.
By 1972, another 23 campuses and centers had been opened, and the college bylaws were revised to define Antioch as a network, not a college. Even as centers began to close, new centers continued to open; 38 centers would be opened by the end of 1979, including Antioch University School of Law in Washington, D.C.
In 1977, the Antioch College board of trustees voted to change its corporate name to Antioch University. It continued to operate Antioch College as a division of the university along with the other campuses and centers. From 1978 to 1994, the president of the Antioch College campus also served as the Chancellor of Antioch University.
21st century
In 2007, the Antioch University board of trustees announced that they would suspend operations of Antioch College the following year and that they intended to re-open the college in four years. It was their belief that four years would give the university the necessary time to develop and execute a plan for re-building Antioch College in a manner that would both honor its legacy and secure its future.
There was considerable controversy among members of the Antioch College alumni group about the decision to suspend operations at the college. Subsequently, a group of Antioch College alumni, headed by the Antioch College Alumni Board, expressed interest in purchasing the college from the university and re-opening the college as an independent institution. The alumni group formed the Antioch College Continuation Corporation as the vehicle for negotiating and owning the college. After two years of negotiations, the parties agreed to terms of an asset purchase agreement which was signed at a closing ceremony on September 4, 2009. In the transaction, Antioch College Continuation Corporation purchased from the University the college campus in Yellow Springs, Ohio along with an exclusive license to use the University's registered trade name "Antioch College". However, Antioch University continues to own the trade name and any other use of the word "Antioch" within higher education.