Regent University
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Regent University is a Christian university with its main campus in Virginia Beach, Virginia and a satellite campus in Alexandria, Virginia.
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History
Regent University was founded in 1977 as CBN University by Pat Robertson, who currently holds the title of Chancellor of Regent University.
The school, although founded in 1977, did not conduct its first classes until the fall of 1978, in leased classroom space in Chesapeake, Virginia. The first students were all enrolled in what is now the School of Communication & the Arts. Its first students graduated in May 1980; the School of Education opened the following October. At the same time, CBN University opened the first building on its current Virginia Beach campus.
The school proceeded to open its schools of business, divinity, government, and law by the mid-1980s. In 1984, CBN University received accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools; later in the decade, it started a distance education program.
In January 1990, the school changed its name to Regent University. Five years later, Regent began outreach programs geared to teachers in the Washington, D.C. area, which eventually led to the opening of its Alexandria campus. In 2000, Regent began an undergraduate degree-completion program under the auspices of a new program, the Center for Professional Studies, which became Regent Undergrad in the fall of 2004.
Graduate schools
Robertson's original vision for Regent University was that of a graduate institution. Although Regent now offers undergraduate programs (see next section), the school has mostly remained true to its original focus. The vast majority of Regent's approximately 3,000 students (as of 2004) are enrolled in one of the following eight graduate or first-professional schools:
- School of Business
- School of Communication & the Arts
- School of Divinity
- School of Education
- Robertson School of Government
- Regent School of Law
- School of Leadership Studies
- School of Psychology and Counseling
These schools all offer master’s, doctoral, and law degrees, as well as a professional degree completion program, from a Judeo-Christian perspective.
Undergraduate school
The newest addition to Regent is Regent Undergrad, designed primarily for non-traditional students who wish to complete undergraduate degrees. Regent Undergrad offers bachelor's degrees in the following disciplines:
- Organizational Leadership and Management
- Religious Studies
- Psychology
- Communications
- Interdisciplinary Studies (designed to prepare teachers for 6th grade and younger)
Regent Undergrad, as with the rest of the university, teaches its programs from a Judeo-Christian perspective.
Facts
Many of Regent's degrees can be earned either on-campus or online. Some programs, especially in the School of Government, are available at either the Virginia Beach or Alexandria campus. The J.D. can only be earned at the Virginia Beach campus. The School of Law offers a LL.M. in international taxation that is the first law degree program in the United States to receive American Bar Association approval for distance education.
The former dean of the School of Communication & the Arts is Peter Engel, a veteran television producer and writer best-known as the producer of Saved by the Bell.
Maria Boren, a candidate/cast member in the second season of NBC's The Apprentice, is a 2002 MBA graduate of the School of Business.
Tony Hale, an actor on the show Arrested Development, graduated from Regent's theatre department in 1994.
Former Miss America winner Nicole Johnson (1998) also graduated from Regent, from the School of Communication and the Arts.
In March 2005, former United States Attorney General John Ashcroft was appointed to a joint faculty post in the Schools of Law and Government, effective July 1. [1] (http://www.regent.edu/news/_press_releases/march_2005/ashcroft.cfm)
External links
- Official website (http://www.regent.edu)