Berkeley College
Berkeley College Logo
MottoYour potential is our promise.
TypePrivate For-profit college
Established1931 (as The Berkeley School)
PresidentDiane Recinos
ProvostPatricia Greer
UndergraduatesMore than 3,600 as of Fall 2022
Location
New York & New Jersey
,
United States of America
CampusUrban & Suburban
ColorsOfficial Berkeley Blue and White
Sporting affiliations
USCAA Division II
MascotBerkeley Knight
Websiteberkeleycollege.edu

Berkeley College is a private for-profit college with campuses in New York, New Jersey, and online. It was founded in 1931 and offers undergraduate and graduate degrees and certificate programs. Berkeley College is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.

Academics

Berkeley College offers certificate, associate's, bachelor's, and graduate degree programs. The College serves a diverse student body of more than 3,600 students through The Larry L. Luing School of Business, School of Professional Studies, and School of Health Studies, on-site and online.

Berkeley College launched its first graduate degree program, a Master of Business Administration in 2015.[1] Through Berkeley College's Corporate Learning Partnership, the MBA program partners with organizations like Affinity Federal Credit Union to offer master's degree and continuing education programs to employees.[2] Berkeley College launched an MBA through the College's Larry L. Luing School of Business in Manhattan, NY, that was offered on-site at the Midtown Manhattan campus beginning in April 2022.

Berkeley College announced the launch of a Master of Science in Nursing program through its School of Health Studies in December 2021. The advanced degree has specialized concentrations in Nursing Leadership and Management, Nursing Education, Family Nurse Practitioner, and Public Health and Emergency Management Nursing. With this program approval, Berkeley College – New Jersey has the only Licensed Practical Nurse-Bachelor of Science in Nursing-Master of Science in Nursing (LPN-BSN-MSN) pathway program in the State of New Jersey.

U.S. News & World Report listed the college in its 2023 rankings of Best Online Bachelor's Degree Programs - Business and Best Online MBA Programs.[3] Berkeley has offered distance education courses since 1998.[4]

Campuses

The college has a New York City Campus in Midtown Manhattan, and three campuses in New Jersey, in Newark, Woodbridge, and Woodland Park.

A number of Berkeley campuses have closed over the past decade. In 2014, the Berkeley College Extension Center on Williams Street in New York City was closed.[5] Two years later, the college closed the Clifton, New Jersey, campus.[6] In 2018, the Dover campus was closed[6] with the Brooklyn campus closed the following year.[5] Berkeley announced the closure of the White Plains campus in the fall of 2021 and consolidated it with its Manhattan campus.[7][8] Berkeley announced the closure of the Paramus campus in spring 2022 and consolidated it with its Woodland Park campus.

In 2015, Berkeley College was named in a New York City Consumer Agency investigation, along with 3 other for-profit schools, concerning student dropout and loan default rates, as well as how the college recruits new students.[9]

In 2018, Berkeley College was named in a lawsuit filed by the New York Department of Consumer Affairs for deceptive and predatory practices.[10][11] The lawsuit description includes (1) misleading students about financial aid, including federal financial aid; (2) tricking students into taking out loans directly from Berkeley College; (3) deceiving students about institutional grants; (4) deceiving students about transfer credits, majors, and careers; and (5) violating local debt collection laws by concealing its identity from former students when collecting debt, including debt that is not owed. Berkeley College denied the allegations contained in the DCA's lawsuit and denied that it violated the New York City Consumer Protection Law.[12]

In 2019, Berkeley College was sued by former staffers at the White Plains (NY) campus claiming they faced "a gender-related hostile work environment" and "wrongful termination."[13] However, plaintiffs failed to prove their case. In July 2021, the Southern District of New York granted defendants' motion for summary judgment and dismissed the lawsuit against Berkeley College and all individual defendants. Thereafter, plaintiffs appealed their loss, and, in November 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit affirmed the judgment of the SDNY.[14]

In 2022, the NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) reached a settlement with Berkeley College[15] in connection with DCWP’s 2018 lawsuit.  The settlement requires Berkeley to, among other things, stop collection on any outstanding debt incurred before January 1, 2019, which Berkeley estimates is valued at a total of $20 million;[16] pay $350,000 to the City, which DCWP plans to use to pay restitution to certain impacted consumers; and instruct its third-party debt collectors to request that credit reporting agencies remove all consumer account information related to student debt owed to Berkeley incurred before January 1, 2019.

Athletics

3 East 43rd Street building

Berkeley College Knights Athletics includes Basketball and Soccer teams. They compete in the USCAA and the Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Chris Christiansen, Head Coach of the Men's Basketball team for 22 years, was inducted into the USCAA Hall of Fame, Class of 2023.[17]

Notable alumni

Notable faculty

References

  1. ↑ Perry, Jessica (2015-03-04). "Berkeley College launching MBA program this fall". NJBIZ. Retrieved 2023-12-21.
  2. ↑ Hutter, David (2019-10-10). "Affinity FCU to offer employees MBA opportunity at Berkeley College". NJBIZ. Retrieved 2023-12-21.
  3. ↑ Berkeley College Bachelor’s Program Overview. U.S. News & World Report, https://www.usnews.com/education/online-education/berkeley-college-7394/bachelors. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  4. ↑ "Thought Leaders in Online Education: Berkeley College Dean of Online Learning Joseph Scuralli (Part 1)". Sramana Mitra. 2020-12-07. Retrieved 2023-12-21.
  5. 1 2 "Berkeley College - New York". Middle States Commission on Higher Education. Retrieved 2020-01-15.
  6. 1 2 "Berkeley College - New Jersey". Middle States Commission on Higher Education. Retrieved 2020-01-15.
  7. ↑ "Berkeley College to shut down White Plains campus". News 12 - Long Island. Retrieved 2023-12-21.
  8. ↑ Staff, T. R. D. (2021-09-22). "Berkeley College Selling Two White Plains Buildings". The Real Deal. Retrieved 2023-10-28.
  9. ↑ Harris, Elizabeth A. (2015-04-02). "New York City Consumer Agency Investigating Four For-Profit Colleges". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-01-15.
  10. ↑ "DCA Berkeley Investigation". www1.nyc.gov. Retrieved 2020-01-10.
  11. ↑ Marsh, Julia (2018-10-19). "City sues for-profit Berkeley College for 'voracious greed'". New York Post. Retrieved 2020-01-10.
  12. ↑ "New York City sues for-profit Berkeley College over alleged deceptive practices". ABC7 New York. Retrieved 2023-12-21.
  13. ↑ Wilson, Colleen; Fitz-Gibbon, Jorge. "Ex-staffers sue Berkeley College, citing hostile work environment". lohud.com. Retrieved 2020-01-15.
  14. ↑ "NY Forecast: College Office Harassment Suit At 2nd Circ. - Law360". www.law360.com. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  15. ↑ "Mayor Adams Delivers $20 Million in Debt Relief to Former Berkeley College Students". The official website of the City of New York. 2 March 2022. Retrieved 2022-03-08.
  16. ↑ Sheffey, Ayelet. "$20 million in student debt is getting wiped out for New Yorkers who went to a 'predatory' for-profit college that turned 'their dreams into debt,' Chuck Schumer says". Business Insider. Retrieved 2022-03-08.
  17. ↑ "The USCAA Announces the Hall of Fame Class of 2023". 2023-04-04. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  18. ↑ O'Brien, Jon (2022-12-17). "Danielle Rose Russell: 14 Things To Know About The Star". Nicki Swift. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
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