Union Institute & University

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by skidadl, May 28, 2012.

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  1. skidadl

    skidadl Member

    Why is this place not mentioned when folks are looking for Ph.D. programs?

    I haven't heard much about them for years. The only thing I remember is that they had some serious problems and questions years back and then nothing...

    Do they lack credibility or are there questions about the schools viability?
     
  2. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    I have a Ph.D. from Union. I think they receive less attention for a few reasons. First, their raison d'être no longer exists: learner-centered and -designed degree programs. Second, Union is expensive. Third, Union is tiny. Fourth, Union offers a small number of Ph.D. programs. Fifth, Union has had a very unstable past, really since their inception in the early '70's.

    Ten years ago, the Ohio Board of Regents really got on Union. Unfortunately, the situation financially was bad and academically was sketchy. But instead of being allowed to clean it up, Union was forced to abandon the self-designed and -led Ph.D. programs. There's still a great deal of flexibility available in a Union program, but there really isn't much to distinguish them from Capella, Walden, Fielding, etc.

    I can't say anything about their viability, but it's been 10 years since the OBR kurfuffle, and they're still here.
     
  3. NorCal

    NorCal Active Member

    I went to Union for my undergraduate and I really liked the school. However, they are a very small school and they do not have many course offerings for graduate and doctorate level study. Another problem with Union is that they're very EXPENSIVE, but I had the GI Bill pay my way so for me it worked out great.

    All in all, I like Union for being a very small university, that's a non-profit, with R/A accreditation. But truth be told, there are definitely better deals out there.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 29, 2012
  4. Hadashi no Gen

    Hadashi no Gen New Member

    I've been impressed with UI&U since living in Brattleboro, where they have a campus. I don't know much about their doc programs, but I have worked with some of their Masters in Counseling students doing their internships, who were top knotch and very knowledgeable of theory and practice. Plus all of their degrees were self-designed.
     
  5. Ted Heiks

    Ted Heiks Moderator and Distinguished Senior Member

    True, but their PhD in Humanities & Culture can essentially be tailored to any discipline within the humanities and the social sciences.
     
  6. Ted Heiks

    Ted Heiks Moderator and Distinguished Senior Member

    True about their unstable past, but I thought they were founded in 1964.
     
  7. Ted Heiks

    Ted Heiks Moderator and Distinguished Senior Member

    I thought that their PhD in Humanities & Culture distinguished them from Capella, Fielding, and Walden. In other words, Capella, Fielding, and Walden don't have any degree programs within which one might "carve out" a PhD in History (or anything in the liberal arts field).
     
  8. Jonathan Whatley

    Jonathan Whatley Well-Known Member

    +1; (with honorable mentions for a few other similarly interdisciplinary fields of study with short-residency US RA doctorates: Human Science at Saybrook; Leadership at Union again, Andrews, Antioch, Johnson, Regent, and others; Transformative Studies at CIIS.)
     
  9. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    The forerunner to the Union for Experimenting Colleges and Universites, The Union for Research and Experimentation in Higher Education, was established in 1964. The Union's Ph.D.-granting arm, the Union Graduate School, was established in 1972.
     

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