Northbridge University

{{Short description|Private university in Puerto Rico}} {{Infobox university | name = Northbridge University | native_name = National College of Business and Technology | image = NUC University Logo.svg | image_size = | image_alt = The NUC University Logo. | caption = | latin_name = | motto = ''Excellentia Integritas Novus Comprǒmissum'' | mottoeng = ''A new commitment and integrity of excellence'' | established = {{start date and age|1982}} | closed = | type = Private, for profit | affiliation = EduK Group | endowment = | officer_in_charge = | chairman = | chancellor = | president = José Córdova<ref name="PH_2021">{{cite news|title=Gloria Baquero se retira de la presidencia de National University College |url=https://www.primerahora.com/noticias/puerto-rico/notas/gloria-baquero-se-retira-de-la-presidencia-de-national-university-college/ |access-date=7 March 2022|work=Periódico Primera Hora |date=17 October 2019 |language=es}}</ref> | vice-president = | superintendent = | provost = | vice_chancellor = | rector = | principal = | dean = | director = | head_label = NUC University | head = | faculty = 221{{citation needed|date=November 2021}} | staff = | students = 20,000<ref>{{cite web |title=NUC University celebra sus 40 años de historia |url=https://www.periodicolaperla.com/nuc-university-celebra-sus-40-anos-de-historia/ |website=Periódico La Perla del Sur |access-date=7 March 2022 |date=14 February 2022 |language=es |archive-date=26 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220326232824/https://www.periodicolaperla.com/nuc-university-celebra-sus-40-anos-de-historia/ |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref> | undergrad = | postgrad = | doctoral = | other = | city = Bayamón | country = Puerto Rico | coor = | campus = Both Urban and Suburban | former_names = National University College<br>NUC University | free_label = | free = | sports = | colors = {{color box|#001435}} {{color box|#f7a200}} Navy and gold | colours = | other_name = | mascot = | athletics = | accreditation = CHEPR, MSCHE, ACICS | website = {{URL|www.northbridge.edu}} | logo = | footnotes = }}

'''Northbridge University''', (formerly '''NUC University''') is the largest for-profit private university in Puerto Rico with its main campus in Bayamón, Puerto Rico.<ref name="Domenech_2018">{{cite news |last1=Tellado Domenech |first1=Rut N. |title=Northbridge University se fusiona con tres instituciones educativas |url=https://www.elnuevodia.com/negocios/empresas/nota/nationaluniversitycollegesefusionacontresinstitucioneseducativas-2397913/ |access-date=9 February 2019 |work=El Nuevo Día |date=February 12, 2018 |language=es}}</ref> The university was founded in 1982 as the '''National College''', and offers undergraduate studies and graduate studies in health, business administration, education, information technology, and criminal justice.<ref name="Díaz_Jan_2019">{{cite news |last1=Díaz |first1=Marian |title=Cerrará sus puertas el Instituto de Banca y Comercio en Hato Rey |url=https://www.elnuevodia.com/negocios/empresas/nota/cerrarasuspuertaselinstitutodebancaycomercioenhatorey-2473537/ |access-date=9 February 2019 |work=El Nuevo Día |date=28 January 2019 |language=es}}</ref>

thumb|NUC University 2020 Seal

Northbridge University is accredited by the Council of Higher Education of Puerto Rico and the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.<ref name="Díaz_Jan_2019" />

== History == thumb|left|NUC University in Ponce, Puerto Rico

In 1980, a steering committee, led by Jesús Siverio Orta, worked on the planning and organization of the institution. It was not until the first of April, 1982 that the institution began its educational operations in Bayamón, Puerto Rico under the name '''National College of Business and Technology'''. In June of the same year, the committee acquired the Polytechnical Community College, obtaining at the same time its operating license from the Puerto Rico Department of Education with the same rights, privileges and obligations as the predecessor institution.<ref name="NUC_2022">{{cite web |title=Catálogo General NUC University - Recinto de South Florida |url=https://www.nuc.edu/nuc2021/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/NUC_South_Florida_General_Catalog-S.pdf |access-date=7 March 2022|work=NUC University |date=2022}}</ref>

NUC University began its educational program with four classrooms on the third floor of the Ramos Building located in the city of Bayamón, which also had a typing laboratory, a pharmacy laboratory and a library. Initially, the institution only offered Pharmacy Assistant and Secretarial Science programs. The first group of students from these two programs graduated in July 1983.<ref name="NUC_2022"/>

In 1984 it opened the Arecibo Campus in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, and in 2003 the Río Grande Campus in Río Grande, Puerto Rico. In the following years NUC University started expanding rapidly, establishing a learning center at the San Cristóbal Hospital on September 2007 in Ponce, Puerto Rico which later became the Ponce Campus on July 10, 2009. In January 2011, NUC opened an additional location in Caguas, Puerto Rico and in June 2014, it became the Caguas Campus.

In March 2017, NUC opened a Campus in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, and in November 2018, the institution opened it most recent campus, the South Florida Campus in the State of Florida.

== Campuses == The multi-campus school is one of the largest secondary education institutions in Puerto Rico. Today NUC University has 15 campuses, nine of them in the State of Florida, and 13 centers of the IBC technical division.

'''Puerto Rico Campuses:''' * NUC Arecibo * NUC Bayamón * NUC Caguas * NUC Mayagüez * NUC Ponce * NUC Río Grande * CCU Caguas * CCU Bayamón * NUC-IBC Aguadilla * NUC-IBC Arecibo * NUC-IBC Bayamón * NUC-IBC Caguas * NUC-IBC Guayama * NUC-IBC Los Colobos, Carolina * NUC-IBC Manatí * NUC-IBC Mayagüez * NUC-IBC Ponce * NUC-IBC Yauco * NUC-IBC Escorial

'''Florida Campuses:''' * NUC South Florida * NUC-FTC Deland * NUC-FTC Kissimmee * NUC-FTC Orlando * NUC-FTC Pembroke Pines * NUC-FTC South Miami * NUC-FTC Lakeland * NUC-FTC Tampa * The DAVE School

'''Oregon Campuses:''' * Hillsboro Aero Academy

== Accreditations == NUC University is authorized by the Council of Higher Education of Puerto Rico and accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education to offer university studies of the undergraduate, graduate and professional levels, as the case may be. Likewise, the university is committed to the professional accreditation of its academic programs. For this reason, some academic units have programs accredited by organizations, such as: * Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN) * Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE) * Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) * American Culinary Federation Education Foundation Accrediting Commission (ACFEFAC)<ref name="Perla_2021">{{cite news|title=Programa de Artes Culinarias de NUC University recibe importante acreditación |url=https://www.periodicolaperla.com/programa-de-artes-culinarias-de-nuc-university-recibe-importante-acreditacion/ |access-date=14 January 2022|work=Periódico La Perla del Sur |date=1 September 2021 |language=es}}</ref>

=== Certifications and authorizations === The institution is also authorized and certified by the following entities: * Puerto Rico State Approving Agency for Veterans Education * Microsoft IT Program * U.S. Department of Education * Vocational Rehabilitation

=== Memberships === * Puerto Rico Private Education Association * Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators of Puerto Rico * American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers * Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities * National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

== References == {{Reflist}}

== External links == * {{Twitter|NUCuniversity}}

Category:Private universities and colleges in Puerto Rico Category:Universities and colleges in Ponce, Puerto Rico Category:Universities and colleges in Bayamón, Puerto Rico Category:Universities and colleges established in 1982 Category:1982 establishments in Puerto Rico Category:Bayamón, Puerto Rico Category:For-profit universities and colleges in North America