Bristol University (California)


Bristol University was a private university established in the city of Anaheim, California, United States, in 1991 as Kensington College. It became a university in 2011, and was renamed Bristol University. The first graduating class as Bristol was in 2014. The college filed for bankruptcy in 2017.

History

Bristol was founded in Santa Ana as Kensington College in 1991. In 2009, the school initiated an MBA program. In 2011, the school moved to Anaheim and was renamed Bristol University. The first graduating class of Bristol was in 2014. The school served mostly low-income, international and underperforming students, and a sizable portion of student-athletes.

Tuition

The school reported the average cost to earn a bachelor's degree from 2014-2017 was approximately $47,400, and took an average of 31 months to complete.

Accreditation issues and closure

In April 2015, the US Department of Education placed Bristol on a program called Heightened Cash Monitoring, which delays cash payments to universities because they were out of compliance with distance learning regulations. In September 2015, the Department of Education informed Bristol they were no longer eligible to participate in federal financial aid programs, because the school disclosed a material change in ownership twenty five days late.
The Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools denied the institution accreditation on December 22, 2015. As this prevented the school from accepting new students, Bristol filed a suit in federal court and was granted relief, reinstating their accreditation in 2016. Bristol's position that the accrediting agency engaged in negligence by failing to follow the proper procedures in removing their accreditation. However, the judgment was later overruled Bristol filed for bankruptcy in 2017.

Athletics

The school at one time supported sixteen sports teams, competing in the United States Collegiate Athletic Association as the Bears. Despite the school's small size, both the men's and women's basketball teams played several games against much larger NCAA Division I teams, including 5 games in the 2015 season alone. Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, tennis, track and volleyball. Women's sports include basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, track and volleyball.

Notable people