Excelsior University is a private online university in

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...

. It offers

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education, usually in a college or university. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, ...

and graduate degrees and comprises three schools: the school of undergraduate studies, the school of graduate studies, and the school of

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 ...

. It serves mostly non-traditional, adult working students through

distance education 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 ...

programs.

History

Excelsior College was founded in 1971 by the

New York State Board of Regents The Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York is responsible for the general supervision of all educational activities within New York State, presiding over the University of the State of New York and the New York State Educatio ...

as its

external degree An external degree is a degree offered by a university to students who have not been required to be physically present within the geographic territory of the institution. These undergraduates may be called ''external students'' and may study at c ...

program, known as The Regents External Degree Program (REX). Its initial development was funded by grants from the

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a $25,000 (about $550,000 in 2023) gift from Edsel Ford. ...

and the

Carnegie Corporation The Carnegie Corporation of New York is a philanthropic fund established by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to support education programs across the United States, and later the world. Since its founding, the Carnegie Corporation has endowed or othe ...

. Known as Regents College from 1984 through 2000, it operated as a program of the Board of Regents, which also served as its board of trustees. In April 1998, the Board of Regents granted the school a charter to operate as an independent institution. On January 1, 2001, Regents College became Excelsior College. (''Excelsior'' means "ever upwards" in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

; it is the motto of the

State of New York New York, also called New York State, is a state in the northeastern United States. Bordered by New England to the east, Canada to the north, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the south, its territory extends into both the Atlantic Ocean and ...

.) Excelsior College changed its name to Excelsior University on August 1, 2022.

Academics

History (Regents College)

Regents College was from its inception a college that had faculty, majors, academic requirements, and advisors, but no courses. Instead, it provided students a framework for having academic credits earned elsewhere evaluated and assembled into a degree program. Regents College also provided a way to earn credits through its Regents College Examinations. For some subjects Regents College referred students to regionally-accredited colleges which provided instruction, accessible from the student's location whenever possible. Regents College obtained

regional accreditation Higher education accreditation in the United States is a peer review process by which the validity of degrees and credits awarded by higher education institutions is Quality assurance, assured. It is coordinated by accreditation commissions mad ...

with little difficulty. However students did not qualify for Federal Student Aid, which funded instruction, not advising and evaluation students. Starting with its first graduate program, a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies that began in 1998, Regents College began adding distance learning courses through digital means, such as DVDs. Since Regents College was designed to consolidate credit from other universities, any transfer credit from an

accredited Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...

institution was accepted if it fell within one of college's degree programs and was earned within an allowable time limit.

Since 1998

Known as Excelsior College beginning in 1998, and Excelsior University since 2022, the school is well known for its flexible, online degree programs. Sources of college credit that can be used towards an Excelsior degree program include Excelsior

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 ...

courses, courses from other accredited institutions, college-level subject-matter examinations (including CLEP exams, and DSST/DANTES exams), non-collegiate training (including corporate, governmental, and military training) that has been evaluated for college-level credit by the

American Council on Education The American Council on Education (ACE) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) U.S. higher education association established in 1918. ACE's members are the leaders of approximately 1,600 accredited, degree-granting colleges and universities and higher educati ...

(ACE) and National College Credit Recommendation Service (NCCRS), and assessments of prior learning portfolios. Excelsior is a member of the Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges (SOC) Consortium of the

American Association of State Colleges and Universities The American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) is an organization of state-supported colleges and universities that offer degree programs leading to bachelor's, master's or doctoral A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning ...

Accreditation

Excelsior University is regionally accredited by the

Middle States Commission on Higher Education The Middle States Commission on Higher Education, abbreviated as MSCHE and legally incorporated as the Mid-Atlantic Region Commission on Higher Education, is a voluntary, peer-based, non-profit membership organization that performs peer evalua ...

. Its bachelor's and master's

programs are accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing, Inc. (ACEN). The School of Nursing has twice been designated a Center of Excellence in Nursing Education by the

National League for Nursing The National League for Nursing (NLN) is a national organization for faculty nurses and leaders in nurse education. It offers faculty development, networking opportunities, testing services, nursing research grants, and public policy initiative ...

. Its bachelor's degree programs in

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

technology, information technology, and

nuclear engineering Nuclear engineering is the engineering discipline concerned with designing and applying systems that utilize the energy released by nuclear processes. The most prominent application of nuclear engineering is the generation of electricity. Worldwide ...

technology are accredited by the Technology Accreditation Commission of ABET, Inc. The bachelor's and master's degree programs in business are accredited by the International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education (IACBE).

Notable alumni

* Deborah A. Ashenhurst (Class of 1994), adjutant general of the Ohio National Guard (2011-2015), appointed director of the Ohio Department of Veterans Services in 2019 * Edward D. Baca (Class of 1986), Chief of the National Guard Bureau from 1994 to 1998 * Eric C. Bauman, former chair of the California Democratic Party * Ryan Binse (Class of 2016), Film producer * Charles W. Bowen (Class of 2002), 10th Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard, 2006–2010 * Benjamin Bryant (Class of 2006),

Obama administration Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. Obama, a Democrat from Illinois, took office following his victory over Republican nomine ...

communications official, television producer, host of ''The Brink with Benjamin Bryant'' television specials and

podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...

* Joe R. Campa Jr., 11th

Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy The master chief petty officer of the Navy (MCPON ) is a unique Non-commissioned officer, non-commissioned rank and position of office of the United States Navy, which is designated as a special U.S. uniformed services pay grades, paygrade a ...

, 2006–2008 * Stacey Campfield (Class of 1992), former Republican member of the

Tennessee Senate The Tennessee Senate is the upper house of the U.S. state of Tennessee , Tennessee's state legislature, which is known formally as the Tennessee General Assembly. The Tennessee Senate has the power to pass resolutions concerning essentially any ...

from the 7th district. * Daniel A. Dailey (Class of 2011), 15th

Sergeant Major of the Army The sergeant major of the Army (SMA) is a unique noncommissioned rank and position of office in the United States Army. The holder of this rank and position is the most senior enlisted soldier in the Army, unless an enlisted soldier is servin ...

* John R. D'Araujo Jr. (Class of 1987), director of the

Army National Guard The Army National Guard (ARNG) is an organized Militia (United States), militia force and a Reserve components of the United States Armed Forces, federal military reserve force of the United States Army. It is simultaneously part of two differen ...

from 1993 to 1995 * Joseph Dweck, Senior Rabbi of the Spanish and Portuguese Jewish community of the United Kingdom * Carl Hausman (Class of 1985), Professor of Journalism at

Rowan University Rowan University is a public research university in Glassboro, New Jersey, with a medical campus in Stratford and medical and academic campuses in Camden. Founded in 1923 as Glassboro Normal School on a site donated by 107 residents, the scho ...

and author of ''Lies We Live By''. * Gilbert King (Class of 1985), winner of the 2013

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

in non-fiction for ''Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of the New America''. * Thomas D. Kinley (Class of 1987), US Army major general * Drew MacEwen (Class of 1997), Washington State Senator * Judd Matheny (Class of 2000), member of the

Tennessee House of Representatives The Tennessee House of Representatives is the lower house of the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee. Constitutional requirements According to the state constitution of 1870, this body is to consis ...

from the 47th District. * Anthony Munroe (Class of 1996), President of Essex County College * Malcolm Nance (Class of 2011), author, scholar, and media commentator on international terrorism, intelligence, insurgency, and torture * Anthony J. O'Donnell (Class of 1985),

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

politician * Richard Pope (Class of 1985), attorney and political candidate in the state of

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

* Joseph J. Taluto (Class of 1986), retired Adjutant General of the

New York National Guard New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 19 ...

* Michelle van Ryn (Class of 1981), health researcher and professor at the

Oregon Health & Science University Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) is a public university, public research university, research university focusing primarily on health sciences with a main campus, including two hospitals, in Portland, Oregon. The institution was founded ...

* Jason M. Vanderhaden (Class of 2015), 13th Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard * Derrick Van Orden, U.S. congressman (2023–) from Wisconsin * John E. Walsh (Class of 1990), adjutant general of Montana, Lieutenant Governor of Montana (2013-2014),

United States Senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...

from

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

(2014–2015) * Terry Williams, member of the

Vermont Senate The Vermont Senate is the upper house of the Vermont General Assembly, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The senate consists of 30 members elected from multi-member districts. Each senator repre ...

References

External links

* {{authority control Private universities and colleges in New York (state) Universities and colleges in Albany County, New York Distance education institutions based in the United States Universities and colleges established in 1971 Education in Albany, New York 1971 establishments in New York (state) Organizations based in Albany, New York