HISTORY OF CALDWELL COLLEGE

Caldwell College was founded as a Catholic liberal arts college by the Sisters of Saint Dominic under the leadership of Mother M. Joseph Dunn, O.P., with the approval of the Most Reverend Thomas Joseph Walsh, Archbishop of Newark, who became its first president. Nancy H. Blattner, Ph.D., became Caldwell College’s eighth and current President in July of 2009.

Caldwell College was incorporated on August 10, 1939, as an institution of higher learning for women under the laws of the State of New Jersey and empowered to grant degrees.

In 1952, Caldwell College received full accreditation from the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. Caldwell College has maintained this accreditation which was last reaffirmed in June 2005.

In 1974, Caldwell College became the first institution in New Jersey to award the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. In 1979, Caldwell College became one of the few institutions in the state to offer a unique external degree program. In 1985, the Board of Trustees of the College voted to make Caldwell College fully co-educational, enabling men to receive the superior education and career preparation that women had been able to receive for fifty years. Caldwell College welcomed the first full-time male students in the fall of 1986.

In November 1992, Caldwell College reached another plateau: the New Jersey Board of Higher Education granted approval for the College to offer the M.A. in Curriculum and Instruction. During the summer of 1993, the first graduate students began classes.

In the fall of 2007 a new Center for Graduate & Continuing Studies administered by a Dean was created to better meet the needs of all of the College’s adult students.

The College now offers eight graduate degree programs, along with a number of Post Baccalaureate and Post Masters’ programs. The College has consistently shown growth in the area of Graduate Studies, including the following additions: in 2000, the College was the first in New Jersey to offer a specialization in Art Therapy within the M.A. in Counseling Psychology; in 2001, the College initiated a Post Baccalaureate Teacher Certification Program in Special Education and a dual Certification Program in Early Childhood and Elementary Education; in 2003, the College began offering an M.B.A. program in the Business Department and the Behavior Analyst Certification Board, Inc.® approved a course sequence submitted by Caldwell College as meeting the coursework requirement for taking the Board Certified Behavior Analyst™ examination. In fall 2005, the College introduced Master of Arts degrees in Special Education and Applied Behavior Analysis. In 2007, an M.B.A. program with Nonprofit Management concentration was added.

Caldwell College proudly launched its first Ph.D. degree program in the fall of 2009 in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). ABA is a proven method of effective education of children with autism and other developmental disabilities. As the only doctoral program of its kind in the state, Caldwell’s Ph.D. in ABA will prepare individuals for leadership roles in developmental services, special education and mental health.