Richmond American University London is a private university in London, United Kingdom. Richmond was founded in 1972, by British educator Cyril Taylor.
The university awards US degrees from the American state of Delaware, where Richmond is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. Until 2018, Richmond's UK degrees were awarded by the Open University; but from the 2018/2019 academic year, Richmond has been able to grant its own UK degrees, after receiving Taught Degree Awarding Powers from the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education. This mean that all students at Richmond gain both a UK and US degree studying one programme.
History
Richmond was founded in 1972 by the social entrepreneur and politician Cyril Taylor, chairman of the American Institute For Foreign Study (AIFS), as Richmond College, The American College in London. It began teaching on the site of the former Richmond Theological College, part of the University of London, founded in 1843 as a Methodist theological college. AIFS had been previously using the college site for a number of years for their London study abroad programmes. AIFS purchased half of the college's 10-acre site for £300,000 (equivalent to £3.82 million in 2015), including the majority of its buildings and front lawns, to form a new American liberal arts college. A second campus was opened on St Albans Grove and Ansdell Street in Kensington in 1978 for third and fourth year students as well as the college's US Study Abroad Programme.
In its early years Richmond served mainly to house study abroad programmes to US students, however this changed in 1981 when Richmond obtained a licence to award US undergraduate degrees from the Washington DC Board of Education and formal accreditation from the Middle States Association of Schools and Colleges (now the Middle States Commission on Higher Education).
An expansion of the university's Kensington campus on Young Street was officially opened in March 1988 by Diana, Princess of Wales.
In 1995 AIFS spun-off the university as a non-profit educational institution. Richmond inaugurated its first postgraduate degree in 1998 with a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree.
From 1996 to 2018 Richmond issued British degrees validated by the Open University. In May 2018, the university was granted Taught Degree Awarding Powers in the UK, enabling students to receive two degree certificates, from the US and UK.
In December 2019 the university president, Lawrence Abeln, resigned after filing a complaint with the Charity Commission against the Cyril Taylor Charitable Foundation, the main financial backers of the university. In January 2020 financial problems caused by the dispute with the foundation led the board of trustees to suspend recruitment of students for the spring term.
In March 2020 the university signed a partnership agreement with the Hong Kong-based China Education Group (CEG), giving Richmond students access to internships and exchange programs across CEG's universities and institutes in China and Australia as well as expanding Richmond's international marketing and recruitment. The partners said the deal would "secure the long-term future of the university".
By late 2021 the university had vacated most of its buildings in the Kensington area, retaining one site on Kensington High Street. It also announced in November 2021 that it will be relocating its Richmond campus to new premises in Chiswick Business Park in summer 2022. In spring 2023, the Kensington High Street location closed for student courses.
Organisation
Governance
The Board of Trustees is responsible for the stewardship of the university's assets, strategic decision-making and ensuring compliance with its objectives.
The current Chair of The Board of Trustees is William Durden.
The current president of Richmond, since December 2019, is Phil Deans.
Richmond had an average of 163 staff, including 83 academic staff, 68 management and administrative staff and 12 technical staff, during the year ending 30 June 2017.
In the financial year ending 30 June 2017, Richmond (including the UK charity the Richmond Foundation, which is controlled by the university) had a total income of £35.7 million (including a one-off donation of £10 million from Cyril Taylor) and total expenditure of £25.2 million
Academics
Constituent schools
Richmond, The American International University in London is composed of three constituent schools: Richmond Business School Richmond School of Communications, Arts & Social Sciences (CASS) Richmond School of Liberal Arts