There are 13 colleges and universities in the U.S. state of Vermont. These include one research university, four master's universities, an art school, a law school, and a number of associate's and baccalaureate colleges.
There are three public institutions in Vermont, including the state's flagship public university is the University of Vermont (UVM). [1] The other two public institutions are organized as the Vermont State Colleges system, comprising Vermont State University and the Community College of Vermont. Colleges in Vermont range in size from UVM, with 13,348 students as of 2022, to Sterling College, a private work college with 112 students. All 13 institutions are accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education. [2]
Two schools can claim to be the oldest college in Vermont. UVM was chartered in 1791 but did not begin instruction until 1800 or grant a degree until 1804. Middlebury College was chartered in 1800 and was Vermont's first college to grant an academic degree in 1802. Vermont's newest college not formed from existing institutions is Landmark College, founded in 1984 to serve students with learning disabilities.
Out-of-state colleges may offer degree programs in Vermont with approval of the Vermont State Board of Education, with input from the Vermont Higher Education Council, whose members include all the colleges and universities in Vermont. [12] [13]
As of 2024, the only out-of-state institution offering degrees in Vermont is Southern New Hampshire University, which offers graduate degrees in education at the former Trinity College campus in Colchester. [14]
Two institutions are authorized by the state to offer degrees, but have not been recognized by a regional or national accrediting body:
The University of Vermont (UVM), officially titled as University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a public land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. Founded in 1791, the university is the oldest in Vermont and the fifth-oldest in New England, making it among the oldest in the United States.
Castleton University was a public university in Castleton, Vermont.
A diploma mill or degree mill is a business that sells illegitimate diplomas or academic degrees, respectively. The term diploma mill is also used pejoratively to describe any educational institution with low standards for admission and graduation, low career placement rate, or low average starting salaries of its graduates.
Capella University is a private for-profit, online university headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The school is owned by the publicly traded Strategic Education, Inc. and delivers most of its education online.
Patriot Bible University (PBU), formerly known as Patriot University, is an unaccredited Independent Baptist correspondence school located in Del Norte, Colorado, which issues religious degrees only. According to the State of Colorado, Patriot's "degrees or diplomas have no state recognition". PBU is not accredited by any agency recognized by the Department of Education. It has been called a diploma mill, lacking sufficient academic standards to award degrees.
The Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools (TRACS) is a U.S. based institutional accreditation organization that focuses on Christian colleges, universities, and seminaries seeking collegiate accreditation in the United States. TRACS, which is based in Forest, Virginia, is recognized by the United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.
Stratford University was a private university based in Virginia. Founded in 1976, Stratford delivered online, classroom, and blended online/classroom programs. It closed at the end of the Fall 2022 semester after losing its accreditation.
Abraham Lincoln University (ALU) is a private, for-profit online university based in Glendale, California.
The Robert Larner College of Medicine is the medical school of the University of Vermont, a public research university in Burlington, Vermont. Established in 1822, it is the nation's seventh oldest medical school. The primary teaching hospital for the Larner College of Medicine is the UVM Medical Center in Burlington.
Diploma mills in the United States are organizations that award academic degrees and diplomas with substandard or no academic study and without academic approval by officially recognized educational accrediting bodies or qualified government agencies. The purchaser can then claim to hold an academic degree, and the organization is motivated by making a profit. These degrees are often awarded based on vaguely construed life experience. Some organizations claim accreditation by non-recognized/unapproved accrediting bodies set up for the purposes of providing a veneer of authenticity.
Silicon Valley University (SVU) was a private, non-profit higher educational institution located in San Jose, California. The university was accredited by the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS) at the bachelor's degree and master's degree levels until December 7, 2017. On April 5, 2018, the state regulators of California ordered SVU to close and refund students' money within 45 days. On May 24, 2021, SVU was granted an Approval to Operate for an Institution Non-Accredited by the California Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education (BPPE) by the State of California.
NIU College, Trade School was founded in 2005 in Lancaster, California, and in July 2012 it was moved to Los Angeles then the name was changed from TechExcel to NIU College, which is a trade school approved to offers 16 programs in the areas of Medical, Legal, HVAC & Automotive. NIU College offers a wide variety of programs at a fraction of the cost of other colleges.
Roseman University of Health Sciences is a private university focused on healthcare with its main campus in Henderson, Nevada. It has additional campuses in South Jordan, Utah and Summerlin, Nevada. It enrolled its first class in January 2001 and was originally called the Nevada College of Pharmacy and the University of Southern Nevada.
Vermont State University is a public university in the U.S. state of Vermont formed through the merger of three institutions: Castleton University, Northern Vermont University, and Vermont Technical College. First proposed in December 2020 as a way to consolidate the Vermont State Colleges, the state's public university system, it is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE).