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Arden University is a
private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...
,
for-profit Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or buying and selling products (such as goods and services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for profit." A business entity is not necessari ...
teaching university in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
. It offers a variety of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes with both blended and online
distance learning Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance; today, it usually involves online ...
delivery options. Its head office is in
Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...
with campus locations in
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
,
Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
,
Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...
,
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
and
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
. Originally established as Resource Development International (RDI) in 1990, it was later bought by Capella Education and awarded university status by the British government in 2015. Since August 2016, it has been owned by
Global University Systems Global University Systems B.V. (GUS) is a for-profit private limited company registered in the Netherlands. As a corporate group, it owns and operates several private for-profit colleges and universities in the UK, Canada, Israel and Europe, as w ...
. It is named after the Arden area of England, where its Coventry headquarters are situated.


History

Resource Development International (RDI), the forerunner of Arden University, was established in 1990 by the
Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...
-based entrepreneur John Holden. RDI originally provided distance learning programmes for commercial and industrial clients and established several subsidiary operations in the US, Europe, Africa, and the Far East. By 2010, it had closed most of its foreign subsidiaries and had expanded to include distance learning degrees validated by several UK universities. Its motto was "Learning without Boundaries". In 2011, Holden sold RDI and its remaining subsidiaries to the US-based Capella Education and went on to develop an online business school based in Coventry. RDI was granted taught degree awarding powers in April 2014 and the following year was awarded university status. It relaunched as Arden University in August 2015 with Philip Hallam, formerly the CEO of RDI, as its founding Vice-Chancellor and CEO. Arden was the first distance learning university to launch in the UK since the founding of the
Open University The Open University (OU) is a Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate ...
in 1969 and the third of three for-profit universities created under the
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
government's drive to increase competition in the UK university sector. The previous two were the
University of Law The University of Law (founded in 1962 as The College of Law of England and Wales) is a Private university, private Proprietary college, for-profit university in the United Kingdom, providing undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in law, busi ...
in 2012 and
BPP University BPP University is a Private university#United Kingdom, private university in the United Kingdom. Running courses in law, accountancy, business, nursing, and technology, the for-profit institution is currently a part of BPP Holdings, BPP Educ ...
in 2013. Capella Education had originally bought RDI as part of its strategy to accelerate the company's expansion into the international market. However, the strategy did not come to fruition, and Capella put Arden University and its remaining subsidiaries up for sale in February 2016. Sunderland University, which validated some of RDI's degrees bought the Resource Development International Hong Kong subsidiary from Arden University in July 2016. In August of that year, Arden University itself was sold to the Netherlands-based company
Global University Systems Global University Systems B.V. (GUS) is a for-profit private limited company registered in the Netherlands. As a corporate group, it owns and operates several private for-profit colleges and universities in the UK, Canada, Israel and Europe, as w ...
(GUS) for £15 million. GUS's other UK holdings include the
University of Law The University of Law (founded in 1962 as The College of Law of England and Wales) is a Private university, private Proprietary college, for-profit university in the United Kingdom, providing undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in law, busi ...
,
St Patrick's College, London St Patrick's College (also known as St Patrick's International College) is a For-profit education, for-profit private higher education college based in the United Kingdom with its main campus located at Tower Hill in London. The college offers H ...
and the London School of Business and Finance. From January 2016, the previous externally validated degree programmes under RDI were gradually phased out and replaced by Arden's own degree programmes. In November 2017, Arden University had an enrollment of 5,700 students, of whom 2,500 were enrolled in the university's own programmes. Approximately 44% of its students were based outside the UK. In 2019 Carl Lygo succeeded Philip Hallam as Vice-Chancellor and CEO of the university.Arden University. (April 2019
"Arden University appoints Professor Carl Lygo as new Vice Chancellor and CEO"
Retrieved 7 May 2019.
In July 2024 the Office for Students issued their Regulatory case report for Arden University Limited: Ongoing condition B3 investigation outcome. This stated that “ the Office for Students (OfS) has found Arden University Limited (‘the provider’) at increased risk of a future breach of ongoing condition of registration B3 (student outcomes) for five of the indicators investigated.”


Programmes

The university offers both undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes up to Masters and MBA level in a variety of subjects. As of 2019, these include business and management, computing and IT, criminology, data analytics, finance, graphic design, health and social care, human resource management, law, marketing, psychology, and tourism. Several of Arden's degree courses have additional accreditation by professional bodies, including the
Chartered Institute of Marketing The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) was founded in 1911. It has over 30,000 members, including more than 3,000 registered Chartered Marketers. CIM offers 130 study centres in 36 countries, and exam centres in 132 countries. In 1952 Prince ...
,
Chartered Management Institute The Chartered Management Institute (CMI) is a professional institution for management based in the United Kingdom. It was founded as the British Institute of Management (BIM) in 1947 or 1948, merged with the Institution of Industrial Managers (I ...
,
British Psychological Society The British Psychological Society (BPS) is a representative body for psychologists and psychology in the United Kingdom. History It was founded on 24 October 1901 at University College London (UCL) as ''The Psychological Society'', the org ...
, and
Association for Project Management The Association for Project Management is a British professional organisation for project and programme management. It received a Royal Charter in 2017, and is a registered charity. It has over 45,000 individual and more than 470 corporate ...
.
Association for Project Management The Association for Project Management is a British professional organisation for project and programme management. It received a Royal Charter in 2017, and is a registered charity. It has over 45,000 individual and more than 470 corporate ...

Accredited Academic organisations
Retrieved 4 October 2018.
Arden University is also a member of the
Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) is an American professional and accreditation organization. It was founded as the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business in 1916 to provide accreditation to busines ...
. Arden University's courses can be studied both full-time and part-time and are delivered either as
distance learning Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance; today, it usually involves online ...
and entirely online or as
blended learning Blended learning or hybrid learning, also known as technology-mediated instruction, web-enhanced instruction, or mixed-mode instruction, is an approach to education that combines online educational materials and opportunities for interaction onli ...
which combines online and face-to-face class tuition at one of its study campuses.
Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (usually referred to simply as the Quality Assurance Agency or QAA) is the United Kingdom higher education sector's independent expert quality body. It has a remit to maintain and enhance the qu ...
(November 2017)
"Higher Education Review (Alternative Providers) of Arden University Ltd.
pp. 3–4. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
The university has UK campus locations in Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester, as well as three in London at
Ealing Ealing () is a district in west London (sub-region), west London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. It is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Pl ...
,
Tower Hill Tower Hill is the area surrounding the Tower of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is infamous for the public execution of high status prisoners from the late 14th to the mid 18th century. The execution site on the higher gro ...
, and
Holborn Holborn ( or ), an area in central London, covers the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Camden and a part (St Andrew Holborn (parish), St Andrew Holborn Below the Bars) of the Wards of the City of London, Ward of Farringdon Without i ...
. Arden also delivers and awards several undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
on the campus of University of Applied Sciences Europe.


See also

*
List of universities in the United Kingdom This is a list of universities in the United Kingdom (alphabetical by substantive name). Below that are lists of university colleges and other recognised bodies (institutions with degree awarding powers), followed by a list of defunct institution ...


References


External links

*
Arden University Limited records
at
Companies House Companies House is the executive agency of the British Government that maintains the Company register, register of companies, employs the company registrars and is responsible for Incorporation (business), incorporating all forms of Company, co ...
(1989–present) *
Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (usually referred to simply as the Quality Assurance Agency or QAA) is the United Kingdom higher education sector's independent expert quality body. It has a remit to maintain and enhance the qu ...

"Arden-University-Limited"
{{Authority control Distance education institutions based in the United Kingdom Private universities in the United Kingdom For-profit universities and colleges in Europe Universities and colleges established in 1990 1990 establishments in the United Kingdom Global University Systems