University of the District of Columbia

Myrtilla Miner with six pupils founded the Normal School for Colored Girls against considerable racist opposition. On December 3, 1851, it started operations in a rented room about fourteen feet square, in a frame house then owned and occupied as a dwelling by African American Edward Younger. This was the first normal school in the District of Columbia and the fourth one in the United States.

Myrtilla Miner (1815–1864), founder of the Normal School for Colored Girls in 1851, predecessor to UDC

The school trained young black women to become teachers. Among its benefactors were the Society of Friends, Henry Ward Beecher, and his sister Harriet Beecher Stowe; Stowe donated $1,000 from the sales of her book Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Although Mayor Walter Lenox believed that education would make Blacks a "restless population" and local residents formed some mobs in opposition to the school, the school remained open until the Civil War began.[5] By 1879, the Normal School for Colored Girls was then known as Miner Normal School. It joined the D.C. public education system.

In 1873, Another institution for white girls was established in Washington D.C. in 1913 was named the Washington Normal School, and it was renamed the Wilson Normal School[6]

In 1929, the United States Congress made both schools Miner Normal School and James Ormond Wilson Normal School four-year teachers' colleges and designated Miner Teachers College for African Americans and Wilson Teachers College for white people. In 1955, following Brown v. Board of Education, the two schools merged into the District of Columbia Teachers College.

U.S. Senator Wayne Morse of Oregon and Representative Ancher Nelsen of Minnesota sponsored the District of District of Columbia School Reform Act, it was enacted on November 7, 1966, as (Public Law 89-791), which established two additional institutions: $7.24 million (~$46.9 million in 2021)

• The Federal City College was created as a four-year liberal arts college. It was originally planned to be a small, selective college of about 700 students. By the time the college opened in 1968, however, admission was open and applications had soared to 6000; students were placed by lottery.[7]

• The Washington Technical Institute was established as a technical school.

Both institutions were also given land-grant status and awarded a $7.24 million endowment (USD), in lieu of a land grant. The Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (MACS) initially accredited the Washington Technical Institute in 1971 and Federal City College in 1974.[8]

Efforts to unify the D.C. Teachers College, Federal City College, and Washington Technical Institute under a single administrative structure began in earnest after the passage of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act. A merger of the institutions was approved in 1975, and on August 1, 1977, the three institutions were formally consolidated as the University of the District of Columbia, with Lisle C. Carter named its first president. The Council of the District of Columbia later passed legislation merging the District of Columbia School of Law with the University of the District of Columbia in 1996.

Beginning with the 2009–2010 academic year, UDC's programs were split into two separate institutions under an umbrella "university system"-style setup. A new Community College (UDC-CC) assumed UDC's associate's degree, certificate, continuing education, and workforce development programs, while the UDC Flagship campus continued with its bachelor's and graduate degree programs. While UDC-CC maintained an open enrollment policy for entry to its associate degree programs, a high school diploma no longer guaranteed admission into UDC’s flagship programs.[9]

In late 2012, the university reported that its average expenses of "$35,152 (~$41,609 in 2021) per full-time student] are 66 percent higher than expenses for comparable schools."[10] To cut costs, UDC underwent a reorganization and eliminated several degree programs.[10]

In 2012 and 2013, the university eliminated 97 full-time equivalent positions including abolished positions, executive appointments, and vacant funded positions. In late December 2012, the Board of Trustees approved a change in the university's executive administration and appointed Rachel Petty to serve as interim COO. During the spring of 2013 James E. Lyons Sr. was hired as an interim President to lead the institution through strategic planning. Since July 1, 2015, president Ronald Mason has led the resurgence of the university by implementing its Equity Imperative.[11] UDC expanded its footprint through campus expansions and community extensions across the District of Columbia. In 2021, the university was ranked 59th in U.S. News & World Report annual list of Top Performers on Social Mobility for Regional Universities North.[12]

The university launched the District of Columbia's Institute of Politics Policy and History[13] in 2019. In response to the 2020 racial justice uprisings, the university launched the Institute for the Study and Elimination of White Supremacy[14]

• College of Arts & Sciences (CAS)
• College of Agriculture, Urban Sustainability & Environmental Sciences (CAUSES)
• School of Business & Public Administration (SBPA)
• School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS)
• David A. Clarke School of Law (formerly the Antioch School of Law)
• University of the District of Columbia Community College (UDC-CC)
• Division of Workforce Development and Lifelong Learning

Among UDC's faculty are Paul Cooke who taught English and directed several plays at the university for 22 years including serving as president[18] and historian C.L.R. James who taught at the university from 1972 to 1980[19] and whose work is a staple of subaltern studies and postcolonial literature.

A 1996 academic partnership with the Modern Academy In Maadi (located in Maadi, a southern suburb of Cairo, Egypt) encourages the material, physical, and intellectual growth of students, faculty, and staff of both institutions through Cairo-based UDC Bachelor's degrees, Computer Science and Business Administration management programs. In July 2001, the partnership included Accounting and Finance options in Business, Computer Engineering and Information Technology and Electronic Engineering and Communication Technology and graduate studies in Business Administration (MBA).[20]

The Maadi branch campus partnership ended in June 2014. All matriculating students will participate in a teach-out process. No degrees will be conferred after May 2016 to any currently enrolled students.

The UDC's adult education department had a collegial relationship with the University of Nairobi for several years, including faculty exchange and doctoral student sponsoring.

UDC is ranked #133-#175 in Regional Universities North by U.S. News & World Report in its 2022 rankings.[21]

UDC has several Greek-lettered organizations including all nine of the National Pan-Hellenic Council organizations.

UDC publishes The Trilogy, a student-paper highlighting campus events and national and local news. The Flightpath yearbook focuses on graduating students and the years' activities.

UDC Cable Television, Channel 19, is the District Government's non-commercial, adult education program service.

UDC Cable TV 98 supports teaching, research and public service with educational-access television and instructional programming. Cable TV 98 operates an audio and video recording service center, electronic field and studio production and a video training center for Public-access television production.[28]