Union Graduate College (UGC) was an American college in

Schenectady, New York Schenectady ( ) is a City (New York), city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the United States Census 2020, 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-most populo ...

from 1905 until it merged into Clarkson University in 2016. It was a part of

Union College Union College is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York, United States. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the s ...

from 1905 to 2003, and was independent from 2003 to 2016.

Organization

The constituent schools of Union Graduate College included the School of Management, the School of Education, the School of Engineering, the Institute for a Sustainable Environment and the Bioethics Program.

History

As part of Union College

The history of Union Graduate College begins in the early 1900s during which time advanced degree study was being conducted at Union College in several disciplines. The master's degree in electrical engineering was available as early as 1905 and was the first graduate degree awarded by Union to a woman, when Florence Buckland received her master's degree in electrical engineering in 1925. The Union Graduate College School of Management began in the economics department of Union College. In May 1961, the Union Board of Trustees approved a master's program in industrial administration. The first three degrees in industrial administration were awarded in 1964. Although advanced degrees in education had been available at Union earlier, a team of academic and administrative faculty was formed in 1986 to investigate the possibility of creating an innovative, high-quality teacher education program. They developed Union Graduate College's

Master of Arts in Teaching A Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) or Master of Science in Teaching (MST) is a professional master's degree that prepares an individual for primary or secondary teaching in a specific field of studies. The degree is generally a pre-service degre ...

(MAT) program in discipline areas that dove-tailed with the College's academic strengths: biology, chemistry, earth science (geology), French, German, Greek, Latin, mathematics, physics, social studies, and Spanish. The first class of 15 MAT students graduated in 1990. Union College continued to expand its graduate degree study offerings with new master's programs in management, healthcare management, engineering, education and bioethics, developing innovative programs through strategic relationships with other upstate New York education institutions such as

Albany Law School Albany Law School is a private law school in Albany, New York. It was founded in 1851 and is the oldest independent law school in the nation. It is accredited by the American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary ...

, Albany College of Pharmacy and

Albany Medical College Albany Medical College (AMC) is a Private university, private medical school in Albany, New York. It was founded in 1839 by Alden March and James H. Armsby and is one of the oldest medical schools in the nation. The college is part of the Albany Me ...

. Union College established what was then known as the “Center for Graduate from Education and Special Programs” to administer these advanced degree programs.

Independent institution

By 2000, bolstered by expanding enrollments in all graduate programs and the growing regional demand for full-time and part-time graduate study, Union recognized the need to create a new, independent, professional graduate college. The Graduate College of Union University was formed and chartered by the State Board of Regents as an independent college in July 2003. The school's name was changed to Union Graduate College in May 2006, a name that better reflected its Union College heritage. In 2015, the New York State Education Department Board of Regents and 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 ...

, approved the acquisition of Union Graduate College by Clarkson University. The merger became official on February 1, 2016, with Union Graduate College becoming the Clarkson University Capital Region Campus in Schenectady, N.Y. The merger was relatively unique in higher education, as both schools were in a sound fiscal position, both meeting and exceeding current enrollment targets, and both in good standing with their accrediting agencies.

Clarkson University Capital Region Campus

As the Clarkson University Capital Region Campus, it serves as a recruiting hub for graduate and professional degree program admissions at all the institution's operations in New York State and online. This includes Clarkson's Beacon Institute for Rivers & Estuaries in Beacon, N.Y., and a partnership with the

Trudeau Institute The Trudeau Institute is an independent, not-for-profit, biomedical research center located on a campus in Saranac Lake, New York. Its scientific mission is to make breakthrough discoveries that lead to improved human health. Its current presi ...

in Saranac Lake, N.Y. In November 2023, Clarkson considered ending the programs in teacher education at the Clarkson University Capital Region Campus. Instead, in March 2024, Clarkson sold the programs to

Siena College Siena College is a Private college, private Franciscan college in Loudonville, New York, United States. It was founded by the Order of Friars Minor in 1937 and is named after the Franciscan friar Bernardino of Siena. The college enrolls approxi ...

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