University College Delaware Campus History

Widener University’s Delaware Campus in Brandywine Hundred is more than home to the Law School. It’s also an important part of University College’s heritage.The campus dates to 1966, when Brandywine Junior College enrolled its first class of two-year degree students. Like University College—known back then as PMC’s Evening Division—Brandywine offered both a solid liberal arts curriculum and practical, business- and professional-oriented courses of study.

Both institutions also shared a history of preparing students for further study in the liberal arts. Brandywine’s day and evening programs educated both high school graduates and adult learners who needed the personal touch a small college offered, while the Evening Division’s innovative “Widener Way” program helped adult students return to college—or enter it for the first time.

Brandywine’s merger with Widener in 1975 brought its programs under the Widener umbrella and led directly to the creation of University College in 1980 as a university-wide home for transitional, evening and continuing studies programs. Since Brandywine College’s closing in 1991, University College has continued its mission of preparing students for scholarship and careers.

“The University College Delaware Campus is the direct descendant of Brandywine College,” said Doreen Fisher, UC Delaware Campus director. In a typical semester, anywhere from 35 to 40 UC courses are offered on the Delaware Campus. Course offerings in Delaware span the full range of UC programs, including the Transitional Education program, which is the direct descendant of the Widener Way. Students in the Law School’s Legal Education Institute can also earn bachelor’s degrees in paralegal studies through UC Delaware, and the campus is the home to UC’s program in information systems.

Currently, about 465 students are enrolled in Delaware Campus courses, either on-site or online through NetCampus. Students taking classes at the Delaware Campus enjoy full access to all campus facilities, including the bookstore, the Legal Information Center library and the Barrister’s Club dining facility.