Franklin University is a private university with its headquarters in Columbus, Ohio. It was founded in 1902 to serve the needs of adult students. The university has over 25 location centers in the Midwestern United States and a majority online population.
History
Franklin University has a history of serving adult students that spans more than a hundred years. It was founded in 1902 at the Columbus YMCA, under its sponsorship as the YMCA School of Commerce. It changed its name to Franklin University in 1933, and amicably discontinued its formal affiliation with the YMCA in 1964. Five years later, in 1969, the institution opened its first building, Frasch Hall. In 1976, Franklin University earned regional accreditation from the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. In 1993, Franklin offered its first graduate program, the Master of Business Administration. In 1998, Franklin University created the Community College Alliance, a program designed to ease the way for community college students to transfer the maximum number of community college credits toward completing a bachelor's degree at Franklin. In 2009, the university began offering its MBA at the WSB Universities in Poland. Since signing this agreement with WSB, Franklin has entered into educational agreements with educational institutions in eight other countries. Today, Franklin University offers a broad range of undergraduate majors and graduate programs. Its enrollment includes more than 300 international students from more than 72 countries. More than 265 community colleges across the U.S. have partnered with Franklin University to ease the way for community college students to transfer the maximum number of community college credits toward completing a bachelor's degree at Franklin. Franklin's Community College Alliance Program. In August 2011, Franklin announced its newest college, the College of Health and Public Administration or COHPA. Franklin now has three colleges, Arts, Sciences, and Technology; The Ross College of Business, and the College of Health & Public Administration. In 2014, the university purchased Urbana University in Urbana, Ohio. In May 2016, the Higher Learning Commission approved Franklin's request to offer its first three doctoral degrees, namely the Doctor of Business Administration, the Doctor of Health Administration and the Doctor of Professional Studies in Instructional DesignLeadership.
In addition to its domestic locations, Franklin University offers programs at international locations through agreements with affiliated universities. These include the in Wroclaw, Poland, St. Clement of OhridUniversity of Bitola in Bitola, North Macedonia, and the Modern College of Business & Science in Oman, to name a few.
Franklin University offers degrees at the associate, bachelor, master's, and doctorate levels, including joint BS/MS programs. Many of these programs can be completed entirely online. Undergraduate admissions are open. The university also operates a coaching program that allows undergraduate and graduate students to be mentored toward reaching academic, professional, and personal goals under the guidance of professionals whom the university has appointed as coaches. Coaches are not university staff, but are professionals working in industry. Each coach has a one-to-one relationship to a Franklin University student, and provides monthly mentoring and guidance to that student.
