Union Institute & University is a distributed learning institute. Begun as a consortium of universities in 1964 called The Union for Research and Experimentation in Higher Education, it later became an independent degree-granting institution calling itself The University Without Walls (1971), and then The Union Institute (1989). After acquiring Vermont College in Montpelier, Vermont from Norwich University in 2001, it was renamed Union Institute & University.
Union Institute & University is an accredited, private, international university founded in 1964. It received accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission in 1985. Union has administrative headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio, and currently enrolls approximately 2,200 learners from all 50 states and more than 20 countries worldwide.
In October 2001, the university acquired the academic programs and historic campus of Vermont College in Montpelier and Brattleboro to complement its distance learning programs and academic centers in Cincinnati, Miami, Sacramento, and Los Angeles. The purchase of Vermont College added several master's degree programs and an Adult Degree Program to Union Institute & University's existing undergraduate and doctoral programs, providing a progression of degree opportunities, along with certificates in advanced graduate study. U.S. News and World Report lists Union Institute as a fourth-tier National University.