Origins The university began in 1927 as the first
junior college in Connecticut. Founders E. Everett Cortright, Alfred Fones, and Sumner Simpson saw a need in Bridgeport, then one of only six American cities of more than 100,000 residents lacking a college or university. The school expanded significantly, adding dormitories and a school of business. The school purchased the former P. T. Barnum estate and neighboring property adjacent to
Seaside Park and became a four-year institution in 1947, when it was renamed the University of Bridgeport. The naturopathic medicine program was discontinued in 2019. The university was approached by the
Professors World Peace Academy (PWPA), an affiliate of the
Unification Church, but its offer to bail out the university was spurned by the trustees who said the school was "not going to have anything to do with the offer" and were concerned that such an affiliation would damage the university's reputation. Problems continued to plague the university; enrollment fell to 1,300 in 1991. Debt rose to over $22 million in 1991–92. Serious plans to merge the university with Sacred Heart fell through in 1992; the law school instead wanted to associate with
Quinnipiac University, but Sacred Heart maintained that any takeover would have to include the Law School. There were other universities willing to take over the school, but were unwilling to take on its debt. The PWPA invested $50.5 million in the university on May 30, 1992, enabling the university to keep its accreditation. A two-year faculty strike, started in the midst of the university's financial troubles, intensified when the trustees gave control to the PWPA. Eventually, sixty-six professors and librarians agreed to a "divorce" with the university in return for compensation of up to a year's salary. In a similar move, the Law School decided to cut ties with the university,
Neil Albert Salonen, a member of the Unification Church, was the chairman of the university's board of trustees when he was chosen to serve as ninth University president in 1999. He had earlier managed several Unification Church related organizations, and had served as president of the
Unification Church of the United States from 1973 to 1980, and as chairman of the
International Cultural Foundation, prior to becoming the chief executive of the university. Salonen retired in 2018. Since 2003 the university has been financially independent from PWPA after having received funding from the PWPA from 1992 until 2002. It has remained non-sectarian throughout. Turnover on the board of trustees had led, over time, to a very different composition, when compared to the 1991 board. As he retired, Salonen stated that "2 or 3" members of the board of trustees were church members.
Present day Enrollment grew from 1,383 total students in 1992 to 5,323 students in fall 2008, a trend which continued throughout the decade, with 5,434 students enrolled in fall 2018. In 1991, the school added a chiropractic program, the first university-affiliated program of its kind in the U.S. Additional doctoral programs in
naturopathic medicine and computer science and engineering were added in 1996 and 2006. The Physician Assistant Institute matriculated its first class at the university in January 2011. In 2014, the school partnered with the Peace Corps to offer New England's first Peace Corps Preparatory Program. In 2014, the School of Nursing at Bridgeport Hospital began a merger with the university which was completed over the next few years. As of 2014, the university consisted of thirteen schools, institutes and colleges: • School of Arts and Sciences • Ernest C. Trefz School of Business • College of Public and International Affairs (CPIA) • School of Engineering • Shintaro Akatsu School of Design (SASD) •
Fones School of Dental Hygiene • School of Continuing and Professional Studies • College of Chiropractic • School of Education • College of Naturopathic Medicine • Acupuncture Institute (UBAI) • Nutrition Institute • Physician Assistant Institute (PAI) • School of Nursing (In April 2014 the University of Bridgeport and Bridgeport Hospital announced an agreement to absorb the Bridgeport Hospital School of Nursing into the university, forming the University of Bridgeport School of Nursing.) In 2018, the university reorganized these colleges and schools into three colleges (with constituent programs and schools), in order to encourage interdisciplinary collaboration, streamline administrative channels, and create clarity and identity for current and potential students: • The College of Arts & Sciences • The College of Business, Education, & Engineering • The College of Health Sciences In 2019, the university announced that the College of Naturopathic Medicine would be discontinued. It was announced in September 2019 that the merger was no longer in the works. On April 2, 2020, Laura Skandera Trombley resigned as president to assume the presidency of Southwestern University in Texas. Provost Stephen Healey was appointed interim president, and
Tarek Sobh, vice president for research & economic development and dean of the College of Business, Education, and Engineering, was appointed interim provost. In January 2021, it was announced that the non-profit
Goodwin University would be taking over the University of Bridgeport, and operating it as a subsidiary, although UB would retain its own name and brand. Two months later,
Paier College (formerly Paier College of Art) announced plans to move its campus to
Bridgeport, into facilities formerly used by the University of Bridgeport, before the start of the fall 2021 session. ==Region and campus==