Regent’s College London meets criteria for university title

Regent's College has students from 130 different nationalities Regent’s College London, the country’s largest private and not-for-profit higher education institution, is set to become Regent’s University London after it received confirmation from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills that it meets the criteria for university title.
The College will change its name through Companies House in the coming weeks and relaunch in June 2013. Regent’s College is based in Regent’s Park in central London and offers a broad portfolio of courses. The institution also has a strong international focus with students from 130 different nationalities.
The announcement follows the granting of Taught Degree Awarding Powers (TDAP) in July 2012, and an intensive scrutiny process led by the Quality Assurance Agency and the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). This included a governance audit, a check on student numbers and a consultation on the proposed change in name.
Gaining university title is part of an ambitious strategy set out by the Principal of Regent’s College, Professor Aldwyn Cooper, which will see Regent’s becoming the leading private non-profit University in Europe. Last month the College announced its acquisition of American InterContinental University London (AIUL) and is integrating the previously for-profit institution in to the College’s charitable operation.
With over 4500 full time students, Regent’s College is already the biggest undergraduate provider in the UK outside the state-funded system. The College takes a truly multi-disciplinary approach, offering a wide breadth of study within its established faculties of Business & Management, and Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences.
In recent years the College has grown its student numbers and expanded the number of courses on offer. Last year’s UCAS applications saw an increase of over 30% - bucking the national downward trend.
Professor Aldwyn Cooper, CEO of Regent's College London, said: "We are delighted that the Government recognises we meet the stringent criteria set down for university title. We will be contacting Companies House to change our name to Regent’s University London and will re-launch as a university under our new name later this year.
"Becoming a university will recognise the first class student experience, the commitment of staff, the engagement of students and the success of alumni at the College. It will help us in our charitable mission to deliver high quality education, and to fulfil our ambition to become the leading private non-profit university in Europe.
"As we expand, we remain committed to maintaining our excellent student-staff ratio and keeping tutorial style education at the heart of our offer to students."
Over the past 5 years, the College has invested £40 million in facilities and teaching to enable academics to spend more time with students in lectures, tutorials and individual feedback sessions. As a result, the student-staff ratio at Regent’s is 15:1 and students receive personal tutorial support and 20 hours of contact time a week, both ahead of the national average.