Otterbein, Antioch plan national private nonprofit university system

Dive Brief:

• Otterbein and Antioch universities, two private nonprofit institutions that each enroll several thousand students, are working to affiliate and start a national university system to share graduate and adult education programs, they announced Thursday.
• The institutions laid out two goals for the planned system that are often considered at odds in higher education: train students for careers and pursue a batch of non-economic priorities associated with the liberal arts, like advancing the common good, social justice and democracy. They will also seek to contain costs through shared services and expand education offerings beyond what individual universities can offer on their own.
• Members of the system are expected to maintain their own brands and undergraduate programs. It could offer classes as early as fall 2023.

Dive Insight:

Thursday’s announcement comes at a time of heightened interest in mergers, affiliations and closures in higher education. Institutions ranging from large public systems to small private nonprofit universities have executed institutional mergers in recent years in the face of financial pressures, falling numbers of traditional-aged college students in many markets, and rising price sensitivity.

But carrying out mergers is not easy for leaders at colleges. Higher ed institutions have many different constituencies that view campuses as mission-driven institutions, and the concept of shared governance means faculty members raise their voices about matters affecting academics.

Different affiliation and partnership models have been tried over the years with varying success. One of the best known and most enduring private nonprofit alliances is the Claremont Colleges, a consortium of seven institutions in California. Students enroll in individual institutions in the consortium but can utilize academic resources from across the group.

The plan for Otterbein and Antioch looks different. Exact details have yet to be determined, but the system is expected to function under a single board that will draw its members from Otterbein and Antioch’s current boards, as well as elsewhere, according to William Groves, chancellor of Antioch University.

Leaders say they’ve started talks to bring in other possible partners with compatible missions.

The system would house shared services like a learning management system. It would also likely have a shared chief executive, although that position probably won’t be created immediately.

“This is not a contractual affiliation or a contractual articulation agreement,” Groves said in a video call with reporters to discuss the announcement. “There is going to be a legal and corporate integration in a way that is much more than a contractual kind of consortium.”

Antioch’s programs include graduate programs and an undergraduate degree completion program. It enrolls about 3,800 students across campuses in Yellow Springs, Ohio; Keene, New Hampshire; Seattle; Los Angeles; and Santa Barbara, California. It also has students in low-residency and remote programs. The university does not include Ohio’s Antioch College, which separated from the university more than a decade ago and is not part of the planned new system.

Otterbein, located north of Columbus, Ohio, enrolls about 2,400 undergraduates and 500 graduate students.

Otterbein will not give up its traditional liberal arts education, said its president, John Comerford, also speaking on the video call.

“But we are going to, with Antioch, jointly work in the adult education space,” Comerford said. “That is, graduate programs, professional development certificates, adult degree completion.”

Otterbein and Antioch still have work to do in their affiliation process. They must finish vetting the deal and then seek regulatory and accreditor approval.

Antioch decided to start pursuing a multi-institution system three years ago, Groves said. It evaluated many possible partner institutions, and Otterbein stood out for its blend of academic programs, history and mission.

Today, partnerships with businesses and making it easier for students to enter and exit education are key parts of higher ed access and affordability, Groves said.

Employers might pay for students to pursue degrees or earn stackable certificates and badges. And this new system could spur accelerated degree pathways enabling students to earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees quickly, according to Comerford.

Other expected benefits of the system include allowing constituent institutions to offer more degrees and programs in additional locations. Leaders also believe the plan could help members offer different forms of learning, such as online, hybrid and low-residency programs.