University of the District of Columbia Informations

The University of the District of Columbia (UDC) is a public historically black university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1851 and is the only public university in the city. UDC is one of the few urban land-grant universities in the country and a member school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. The full university system offers workforce and certificate programs in addition to Associate, Baccalaureate, Master's, professional, and Doctoral degrees. The university's academic schools and programs include the University of the District of Columbia - Community College, College of Arts and Sciences, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, School of Business and Public Administration, Colleges of Agriculture, Urban Sustainability and Environmental Sciences, and School of Law.

The University of the District of Columbia was established in 1851 as the Normal School for Colored Girls. Myrtilla Miner founded the Normal School for Colored Girls against considerable racist opposition. The school grew through mergers and consolidation into the only public university in Washington, D.C.

By 1879, the Normal School for Colored Girls was then known as Miner Normal School. It joined the D.C. public education system. A separate institution, The Washington Normal School was established in 1873 for girls and was renamed the Wilson Normal School in 1913.

In 1929, the United States Congress made both schools four-year teachers' colleges and designated Miner Teachers College for African Americans and Wilson Teachers College for whites. In 1955, following Brown v. Board of Education, the two schools merged into the District of Columbia Teachers College.

U.S. Senator Wayne Morse of Oregon and Representative Ancher Nelsen of Minnesota sponsored the District of Columbia Public Education Act, enacted on November 7, 1966, as (Public Law 89-791), which established two additional institutions. Federal City College was created as a four-year liberal arts college. It was originally planned to be a small, selective college of about 700 students. By the time the college opened in 1968, however, admission was open and applications had soared to 6000; students were placed by lottery. The Washington Technical Institute was established as a technical school. Both institutions were also given land-grant status and awarded a $7.24 million endowment (USD), in lieu of a land grant.

The Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (MACS) granted educational accreditation to Washington Technical Institute in 1971 and to Federal City College in 1974.

Efforts to unify the D.C. Teachers College, Federal City College, and Washington Technical Institute under a single administrative structure began in earnest after the passage of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act. A merger of the institutions was approved in 1975, and on August 1, 1977, the three institutions were formally consolidated as the University of the District of Columbia, with Lisle Carleton Carter, Jr. named its first president. The Council of the District of Columbia later passed legislation merging the District of Columbia School of Law with the University of the District of Columbia in 1996.

Beginning with the 2009–2010 academic year, UDC's programs were split into two separate institutions under an umbrella "university system"-style setup. A new Community College assumed UDC's associate's degree, certificate, continuing education, and workforce development programs, while the UDC Flagship campus continued with its bachelor's and graduate degree programs. While UDC-CC will maintain an open enrollment policy, a high school diploma no longer guarantees admission into UDC.

In late 2012, the university reported that its average expenses of "$35,152 [per full-time student] are 66 percent higher than expenses for comparable schools." To cut costs, UDC underwent a reorganization and plans to eliminate several degree programs.

In 2012 and 2013, the University eliminated 97 full-time equivalent positions including abolished positions, executive appointments, and vacant funded positions. In late December 2012, the Board of Trustees approved a change in the University’s executive administration and appointed Dr. Rachel Petty to serve as interim COO. During the spring of 2013 James E. Lyons Sr. was hired as an interim President to lead the institution forward.

The UDC Police Department (UDCPD) is an operating element within the Office of Public Safety and Emergency Management (OPSEM). The UDCPD is tasked with providing full service policing for all UDC assets and stakeholders in Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia - 24 hours a day, 7 days a week 365 days a year. The department consists of commissioned Police Officers and non-sworn support staff. UDCPD officers have full authority to investigate crimes, respond to calls for service and effect arrests on any UDC property. OPSEM and the UDCPD are under the command of Marieo Foster who serves as the Chief of Police and Director of Public Safety.

UDC offers 68 undergraduate and graduate degree programs. The Division of Community Outreach and Extension Services (COES) offers a variety of practical, nonacademic educational programs and training. UDC spends $35,152 per full-time student.IPEDs reports UDC's full-time student graduation to be 15%; although UDC graduates more District resident students than any college or university in the District of Columbia. The majority of students attending the University of the District of Columbia are non-traditional adult part-time students.

A 1996 academic partnership with the Modern Academy In Maadi (located in Maadi, a southern suburb of Cairo, Egypt) encourages the material, physical, and intellectual growth of students, faculty, and staff of both institutions through Cairo-based UDC Bachelor's degrees, Computer Science and Business Administration management programs. In July 2001, the partnership included Accounting and Finance options in Business, Computer Engineering and Information Technology and Electronic Engineering and Communication Technology and graduate studies in Business Administration (MBA).

The Maadi branch campus partnership ended in June 2014. All matriculating students will participate in a teach-out process. No degrees will be conferred after May 2016 to any currently enrolled students.

The UDC's adult education department had a collegial relationship with the University of Nairobi for several years, including faculty exchange and doctoral student sponsoring.

The main campus of UDC, known as the Van Ness campus, is in the North Cleveland Park neighborhood at Connecticut Avenue and Van Ness Street in Northwest Washington, D.C.. It lends its name to the nearby Van Ness–UDC Metrorail station.

Primarily a commuter school, UDC opened its first residential accommodations or dormitories in August 2010 by leasing an apartment building across the street from its campus. UDC plans to open a new residence hall on its main campus by 2012 that could house as many as 300 students. Construction of a new $40 million student center also began in 2012.

The Van Ness Campus opened in 1968 as the campus of the Washington Technical Institute, occupying buildings vacated by the National Bureau of Standards. Following the announcement of the UDC in 1975, work began on redeveloping the campus, with the construction of Buildings 32, 38, and 39 completed in 1976. Seven additional buildings opened in 1981 at the conclusion of a second phase of construction. The DCTC facilities at the old Wilson Teachers College building at 11th and Harvard Streets, NW and at the Franklin School were retired.

Mt. Vernon Square was selected as the site for Federal City College in 1968, and in 1973 FCC took control of the Carnegie Library, closed in 1970 in anticipation of the D.C. Public Library's move to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library. Funding for the campus did not materialize until 1978, however. Facing declining enrollment and lack of funding, operations at the downtown campus were wound down in the 1990s, and the facilities shuttered. "UDC" was removed from the name of the nearby Mount Vernon Square Metro Station in 2001.

In January 2019, UDC leased property near its Van Ness campus as part of its project to improve its infrastructure.

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