The result will be a “university park” concept, where students from several universities study, eat, live and work together.
Three Connecticut colleges announced Tuesday a plan to acquire parts of the University of Bridgeport and to turn the existing Bridgeport campus into one “University Park.”
The involved institutions avoided describing the arrangement as a merger or acquisition. Instead, the result will be like an “academic food court,” said Mark Scheinberg, president of Goodwin University, one of Bridgeport’s successor institutions.
“In one place, you’ll have people that are in dorms that may be going to different schools and different classes. You’re going to have people using the same food service, same security services, the same rec services, the same library,” he said. Students at all the involved colleges will have options to take courses at the neighboring institutions and transfer credits back.
Private, nonprofit Goodwin University and Sacred Heart University, along with the for-profit Paier College of Art, will acquire Bridgeport’s assets over a still-to-be-determined period of time. Stephen Healey, Bridgeport’s interim president, said the entire process will likely take between 12 and 18 months. John Petillo, Sacred Heart’s president, said the arrangement hinges on special accreditation for programs that will transfer.