Urban university

An urban university (which in some cases may be referred to as a urban-grant university or metropolitan university) is a U.S. term for an institution of higher learning that is socially involved and serves as a resource for educating the citizens and improving the health of the city or region in which it is located. That is, the urban university must be “of” the city as well as “in” the city. A metropolitan university includes a similar mission; however, its research has national and international implications and its student body includes a significant number of international students. Many institutions have further defined what urban and metropolitan universities encompass.

The Committee on Urban Programs defines an urban university as having "a campus located in a major urban area and a substantial number of commuter students. It provides a broad range of undergraduate, professional, and graduate programs, and makes all levels of higher education more accessible to students living in the urban community. Through urban-oriented education, research, and service strategies, an urban university manifests a deep sense of responsibility to its urban constituencies and attempts to assist them in coping with their problems."

In 1995, P.E. Mulhollan authored the study, "Aligning Missions with Public Expectations: The Case of the Metropolitan Universities" for the book titled Metropolitan Universities: An Emerging Model in American Higher Education and defined a metropolitan university, in its simplest terms, "[as] an institution that accepts all of higher education's traditional values in teaching, research, and professional service, but takes upon itself the additional responsibility of providing leadership to its metropolitan region by using its human and financial resources to improve the region's quality of life."

Furthermore, metropolitan universities like Arizona State University, The Ohio State University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Florida International University also focus on national as well as global initiatives and issues regarding global sustainability. Through institutes such as the Ohio State University Health Sciences Center for Global Health and the ASU School of Sustainability's Global Institute of Sustainability, research initiatives addressing regional issues are utilized to answer questions on a national and global scale. This is accomplished by sharing technology and innovation with international organizations, research institutes, and serving as models for other research universities.

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