Urbana University

Urbana University was founded in 1850 by followers of the Swedish scientist, religious teacher, and mystic Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772). Its founding was in part laid by John Chapman (1774-1845), better known as Johnny Appleseed, for whose legendary life the Johnny Appleseed Museum was set up at the University. It also honors Chapman with its Johnny Appleseed Educational Center. While he was more famous for spreading apple seeds throughout the eastern U.S., he was also a Swedenborgian missionary who helped spread this faith among early settlers, including Urbana. He encouraged his friend and fellow Swedenborgian John Hough James to donate the land on which the University stands. Until very recently, it maintained an informal relationship with the Swedenborgian General Convention of the Church of the New Jerusalem., In the fall of 1850, the Urbana Seminary began classes for elementary and secondary students in a rented room in downtown Urbana. The University began college-level classes in the fall of 1854 after its first building, Bailey Hall, was constructed. It was the second institution of higher learning to admit women (the first was Oberlin College in 1833). Seven years later, Urbana University suspended operations during the Civil War (1861-66). In 1907 the University (then titled a College) experienced problems and shortened its curriculum to a two-year junior college. In 1911 the College closed its primary school and in 1928, its secondary school. Until 1968 it operated as a two-year college, when it returned to being a four-year institution. In 1975 it was granted full membership of the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, and in 1985 reverted to its former name, Urbana University., Until 2014 it remained a traditional liberal-arts college, but with the addition of a School of Adult and Graduate Education that offered Associate Degree and Bachelor of Science degree completions in Business Management, Criminal Justice Leadership, Education, Human Services Leadership, and many more. In addition, it made Masters' programs available in Business Administration, Criminal Justice, Education, and Nursing. Classes met at Urbana University and in Bellefontaine, Dayton, Kettering, Marysville, Piqua, and Springfield., In 2014 Franklin University in Columbus, Ohio, purchased the University, which had serious financial problems. Under the agreement, Urbana could retain its name and serve as an actual campus both for Urbana and Franklin students. On August 1, 2017, Franklin University won approval to change the status of Urbana University to a "branch campus," but had to close it in 2020, transferring its records to Columbus. The reason given was the coronavirus pandemic and related declining enrollment.