Marlboro College to Merge With the University of Bridgeport

  • 07/25/19

BRIDGEPORT, CT and MARLBORO, VT – The University of Bridgeport (UB) and Marlboro College have announced that they are planning to enter into a merger that will draw on the strengths of both institutions to create an expanded university with deeper connections between professional programs and the liberal arts. The move is a way to expand geographic and educational opportunities for students while creating a sustainable future for one of New England’s storied liberal arts colleges at a time of rapid change in the higher education landscape. The University of Bridgeport is the most diverse private, secular university in the Northeast, and Marlboro College is recognized as ranked among the best Northeastern Colleges by the Princeton Review.

“At a time of hyper-competition and swift change in higher education, our two unique institutions are demonstrating a new paradigm for colleges and universities of the future,” says Laura Skandera Trombley, president of the University of Bridgeport. “In strategically combining the shared values, strengths, and resources of the University of Bridgeport and Marlboro College, we are proactively ensuring an extraordinarily enriched academic experience for current and future generations of students.”

Students at Marlboro College embrace the communal aspects of life on campus, participating in weekly New England-style town meetings. In place of traditional majors and minors, Marlboro students craft a customized Plan of Concentration based on their academic interests, which culminates in a major body of scholarship. In keeping with the College’s rural setting, all students have access to outdoor facilities including an organic farm, solar greenhouse, and ecological reserve. Experiencing the same challenges as liberal arts colleges throughout the northeast, Marlboro began the process of seeking a strategic partnership last year, contracting with EY-Parthenon to help navigate the burgeoning crisis facing small liberal arts colleges across the country.

“This partnership of two mission-driven schools embodies a remarkable complementarity, joining UB’s strengths in engineering and the health sciences with Marlboro’s strengths in the arts and sciences and self-directed learning,” says Kevin Quigley, president of Marlboro College. “It links our beautiful campuses in the Green Mountains and on Long Island Sound in innovative ways that will expand educational opportunities for all of our students, better preparing them for meaningful work and lives of purpose.”

The University of Bridgeport from its beginning has been an institution of integration and inclusion. It is regarded as a leading innovator in STEM and the health sciences, along with a strong tradition in the arts and sciences, offering degrees from bachelors to masters to Ph.D. and Ed.D. within its three colleges: The College of Health Sciences, The College of Engineering, Business, and Education, and The College of Arts and Sciences, to be renamed The Marlboro College of Arts and Sciences.

Together, the two schools represent an educational community as diverse as the society they seek to serve, and wide-ranging educational opportunities that advance what is best in American higher education. Both institutions share a history of innovation and boldness since their beginning—the University of Bridgeport is nearing its 100th anniversary while Marlboro College is nearing its 75th.

Students will benefit from the merger as soon as spring 2020.

About the University of Bridgeport
The University of Bridgeport, established in 1927 in Bridgeport, CT, is a private, non-sectarian institution with 5,400 undergraduate, graduate, and professional students enrolled in three colleges offering degrees in engineering, business, education, the health sciences, and the arts and sciences. Located alongside beautiful Long Island Sound and two miles of coastline, the University is known for its academic excellence, student and career-oriented focus, and community and civic engagement.

About Marlboro College
Marlboro College cultivates a close-knit, intentionally small learning community where independent thinkers can explore their deepest interests, collaborate with faculty as colleagues, and set the course for their own intellectual and professional pursuits. Located in southeastern Vermont, Marlboro undergraduate and graduate programs are based on a scenic campus in the town of Marlboro. Combined enrollment for undergraduate and graduate programs is fewer than 500 students.

Featured

  • New Kent State Academic Building Earns LEED Silver Certification

    Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, recently announced that its newest academic building, Crawford Hall, has earned a LEED Silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, according to a news release. The facility was recognized for its innovative design, water conservation technologies, energy-efficient systems, and sustainable construction materials, among other features.

  • California Boarding School Opens New Inquiry Collaborative Facility

    Cate School, a boarding school in Carpinteria, Calif., for students grades 9–12, recently announced that it has finished renovating a historic dining hall into a new academic hub, according to a news release. The school partnered with Blackbird Architects and Tangram Interiors on the two-story, 16,000-square-foot Inquiry Collaborative.

  • KI Launches K–12 Classroom Furniture Giveaway

    Contract furniture company KI recently announced the launch of its fourth-annual Classroom Furniture Giveaway, which awards $50,000 each to four K–12 educators across the U.S., according to a news release. The goal is to address decreasing student engagement and increasing teacher burnout numbers by updating learning spaces to accommodate modern needs.

  • Three U.S. Universities Install Acre Security Access Control Platform

    Cloud-native physical and digital security solutions company Acre Security recently announced that it has deployed its access control platform at three major universities in the U.S., according to a news release. Acre partnered with Atrium Campus to provide coverage for more than 69,000 students at the University of Virginia (UVA), George Mason University, and Rockhurst University.