WELCOME TO NACU

A selective national network of innovative comprehensive institutions, NACU catalyzes campus-wide learning and innovation through peer conversations, data insights, professional development, and strategic partnerships.

Who are we? And where are we?

President Sean Creighton and the main office are located in Dayton, Ohio, and Michelle Apuzzio, senior director of programs and communications, is based in Dedham, Massachusetts.

Most importantly, who are our campuses?

NACU campuses are small to medium-sized comprehensive institutions that collectively serve more than 100,000 undergraduate and graduate students. They are located in cities, suburbs, and rural areas in 18 different states. We’re also proud to have two Historically Black Colleges & Universities and four Hispanic-Serving Institutions.

Alabama
- Tuskegee University
California
- University of La Verne
- University of Redlands
Connecticut
- University of New Haven
Florida
- Florida Southern College
Illinois
- North Central College
- Saint Xavier University
Indiana
- University of Evansville
Maryland
- Hood College
Massachusetts
- Merrimack College
- Simmons University
- Western New England University
Minnesota
- Hamline University

Missouri
- Drury University
Montana
- Carroll College
New York
- Nazareth University
- Russell Sage College
- Wagner College
North Carolina
- Queens University of Charlotte
Ohio
- Lourdes University
- Ohio Northern University
Oregon
- Linfield University
Pennsylvania
- Chatham University
- Moravian University
Texas
- St. Mary’s University of San Antonio
Virginia
- Hampton University
- Virginia Wesleyan University

What does NACU do?

For 30 years, NACU institutions have collaborated for the purposes of knowledge sharing, benchmarking, professional growth and development, and research. Below are highlights of our programming:

Center for Professional Development

Learning communities
Leadership Development Institute
NACU podcast
Annual expert-led webinar series open to all at NACU institutions

Center for Research and Innovation

Center for Student Programs

See our full list of campus benefits.

How did NACU get its start?

In 1990, Frank Wong, then vice president for academic affairs at the University of Redlands, wrote an essay titled “The Ugly Duckling of Higher Education” which explored the characteristics of comprehensive institutions. A few years later Ernest L. Boyer, then president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, called for a “New American College” that would renew the tradition of higher education as service to society. In 1995, several comprehensive institutions that embrace Boyer’s ideas of higher education by intentionally integrating liberal arts, professional programs, and civic engagement formed the Associated New American Colleges, now known as the New American Colleges and Universities. Each year we honor Boyer’s legacy through the Ernest L. Boyer Award.

Let’s stay connected!

We’d love to follow you on social media. You can find us on LinkedIn.