Edgecliff College was a
private Catholic
women's college located in
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1935 and merged with
Xavier University
Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier had an enrollment of approximately 5,600 undergraduate an ...
, also of Cincinnati, in 1980.
History
The college was founded as Our Lady of Cincinnati College by the
Sisters of Mercy
The Sisters of Mercy is a religious institute for women in the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley. In 2019, the institute had about 6,200 Religious sister, sisters worldwide, organized into a number ...
, a Catholic
religious institute
In the Catholic Church, a religious institute is "a society in which members, according to proper law, pronounce public religious vows, vows, either perpetual or temporary which are to be renewed, however, when the period of time has elapsed, a ...
. The college was designed to serve as a replacement for the
College of Sacred Heart in
Clifton, which had ceased operations. The campus was located on a hill in the
Walnut Hills section of the city, which offered students views of northern
Kentucky
Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...
and the
Ohio River
The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...
.
Edgecliff received its accreditation from the
Higher Learning Commission
The Higher Learning Commission (HLC) is an institutional accreditor in the United States. It has historically accredited post-secondary education institutions in the central United States: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa ...
in 1955. A
liberal arts college
A liberal arts college or liberal arts institution of higher education is a college with an emphasis on Undergraduate education, undergraduate study in the Liberal arts education, liberal arts of humanities and science. Such colleges aim to impart ...
, a variety of programs of study were offered, including
majors in
music
Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...
,
art,
social work
Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social wo ...
, and
nursing
Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...
. In 1969, the name was changed to Edgecliff College. A year later, the first
male
Male (Planet symbols, symbol: ♂) is the sex of an organism that produces the gamete (sex cell) known as sperm, which fuses with the larger female gamete, or Egg cell, ovum, in the process of fertilisation. A male organism cannot sexual repro ...
students were admitted, making the college fully
coeducation
Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...
al.
In the late 1970s, Edgecliff developed an
articulation agreement with the
Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science, which allowed CCMS students to receive their
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...
at Edgecliff after receiving their
diploma
A diploma is a document awarded by an educational institution (such as a college or university) testifying the recipient has graduated by successfully completing their courses of studies. Historically, it has also referred to a charter or offi ...
and
Associate's degree
An associate degree or associate's degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of academic qualification above a high school diploma and below a bachelor's degree. ...
from CCMS. By 1979, the CCMS campus had moved onto the Edgecliff campus, though the two colleges continued to operate as separate institutions.
Following financial struggles, Edgecliff officially
merged with Xavier University on July 1, 1980. The final Edgecliff class graduated in 1984. All student records are now held by Xavier, and services for the more than 3,500 living
alumni
Alumni (: alumnus () or alumna ()) are former students or graduates of a school, college, or university. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for groups of women, and alums (: alum) or alumns (: alumn) as gender-neutral alternatives. Th ...
are organized through the university. Xavier's Alumni Hall was renamed Edgecliff Hall in honor of the college. Edgecliff Hall has since become the home of Xavier's Department of Music and Theatre.
[Fortin, p. 358.]
In 1986, Xavier closed the Edgecliff campus and sold it to a private developer. The developer wanted to build two condominium towers on the cliff overlooking the Ohio River, but ultimately built only the first 23-story tower and gave the rest of the hillside to the Cincinnati Hillside Trust. The
University of Cincinnati
The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1819 and had an enrollment of over 53,000 students in 2024, making it the ...
bought all of the rest of the land and the academic buildings from the developer, renovated the buildings added an academic building, and moved its
College of Applied Science to the location in 1988 from its historic home at the Emery Building (Walnut and Central Parkway).
In 1977,
several of the buildings were listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
for their architecture, and the
Edgecliff House itself was individually granted the same designation in 1980;
it has since been demolished.
See also
*
List of current and historical women's universities and colleges in the United States
*
List of university and college mergers in the United States
References
Sources
*
Further reading
*
History of CCMS"
Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science. Accessed February 16, 2008.
* Johnston, John.
Edgecliff finds a home" ''
The Cincinnati Enquirer
''The Cincinnati Enquirer'' is a morning daily newspaper published by Gannett in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. First published in 1841, the ''Enquirer'' is the last remaining daily newspaper in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, altho ...
''. November 16, 1999.
* Schier, Tracy. ''Catholic Women's Colleges in America''. 2002.
* Songe, Alice H. ''American Universities and Colleges: A Dictionary of Name Changes''. 1978.
External links
Edgecliff Alumni AssociationHigher Learning Commission: Edgecliff CollegeXavier University
{{Authority control
Educational institutions disestablished in 1980
Defunct private universities and colleges in Ohio
Defunct Catholic universities and colleges in the United States
Universities and colleges established in 1935
Embedded educational institutions
Xavier University buildings and structures
1935 establishments in Ohio
Catholic universities and colleges in Ohio
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati
Buildings and structures in Cincinnati
Samuel Hannaford buildings
Historic districts in Cincinnati
National Register of Historic Places in Cincinnati
Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio