Richmond, The American International University in London Information

Richmond, The American International University in London, is a private liberal arts university in London, United Kingdom. Richmond was founded in 1972, by British educator Sir Cyril Taylor. The university maintains two campuses in Greater London, in Richmond Hill and Kensington.

The university awards US degrees from the American state of Delaware, where Richmond is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. Until 2018, Richmonds UK degrees were awarded by the Open University; but from the 2018/2019 academic year, Richmond is able to grant its own UK degrees, after receiving Taught Degree Awarding Powers from the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education.

Richmond was founded in 1972 by the social entrepreneur and politician Sir Cyril Taylor, chairman of the American Institute For Foreign Study (AIFS), as Richmond College, The American College in London. It began teaching on the site of the former Richmond Theological College, part of the University of London, founded in 1843 as a Methodist theological college. AIFS had been previously using the college site for a number of years for their London study abroad programmes. AIFS purchased half of the colleges 10 acre site for £300,000 (equivalent to £3.82 million in 2015), including the majority of its buildings and front lawns, to form a new American liberal arts college. A second campus was opened on St Albans Grove and Ansdell Street in Kensington in 1978 for third and fourth year students as well as the colleges US Study Abroad Programme.

In its early years Richmond served mainly to house study abroad programmes to US students, however this changed in 1981 when Richmond obtained a licence to award US undergraduate degrees from the Washington DC Board of Education and formal accreditation from the Middle States Association of Schools and Colleges (now the Middle States Commission on Higher Education). With this it became a fully accredited independent liberal arts university. Following the closure of the Washington DC Board of Education, Richmond gained a licence to award degrees in Delaware, which continues to be used for its US degrees.

An expansion of the universitys Kensington campus on Young Street was officially opened in March 1988 by Diana, Princess of Wales.

In 1995 AIFS spun-off the university as a non-profit educational institution. Richmond inaugurated its first postgraduate degree in 1998 with a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree.

From 1996 to 2018 Richmond issued British degrees validated by the Open University. In May 2018, the University was granted Taught Degree Awarding Powers in the UK, enabling students to receive two degree certificates, from the US and UK.

The board of trustees is responsible for the stewardship of the universitys assets, strategic decision-making and ensuring compliance with its objectives. The board is chaired by Dr E. Nicholas Tate CBE, a former chief executive of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority.

The current president of Richmond, since August 2018, has been Professor Lawrence Stephen Abeln.

Richmond had an average of 163 staff, including 83 academic staff, 68 management and administrative staff and 12 technical staff, during the year ending 30 June 2017.

In the financial year ending 30 June 2017, Richmond (including the UK charity the Richmond Foundation, which is controlled by the university) had a total income of £35.7 million (including a one-off donation of £10 million from Sir Cyril Taylor) and total expenditure of £25.2 million

Richmond, The American International University in London is composed of three constituent schools:

Richmond offers a range of majors and minors at undergraduate level in business, economics, political science, international relations, media, the arts and humanities.

Standard degrees are four-years long though may be completed earlier through transfer credits from US Advanced Placement classes, UK A and AS Levels, the International Baccalaureate and other similar qualifications.

In addition it offers postgraduate degrees in business (MBA), Journalism, International Relations, Art History, Visual Arts Management and Public Relations and Advertising.

Richmonds Business School is an accredited higher education partner of the Chartered Management Institute. Its psychology degree is accredited in partnership with the British Psychological Society.

Richmond is a "recognised body" that can award UK degrees, subject to regular inspection by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) and regulation by the Office for Students. The last QAA inspection was in May 2016, which led to the award of taught degree awarding powers (following Richmonds addressing of concerns raised in the report) for a six year period from 17 May 2017 to 16 May 2024. Prior to this, Richmonds UK degrees were validated by the Open University.

Richmond is accredited in the US State of Delaware by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, an accrediting body recognized by the United States Department of Education. Richmond is licensed to award US Associate in Arts, Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Master of Arts and Master of Business Administration degrees by the Department of Education in the State of Delaware.

The university is split between two main campuses in the Greater London area: the Richmond campus, located near the crest of Richmond Hill and approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from Richmond station, and the Kensington campus, located between Kensington High Street and Cromwell Road.

Richmonds library facilities across both the Hill and Kensington Campuses include over 60,000 books and DVDs, 39,000 e-journal titles and 36,000 newspapers and newswires.

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