It is part of the Antioch University system that includes campuses in Keene, New Hampshire; Santa Barbara, California; Los Angeles, California; and Yellow Springs, Ohio, also home to Antioch College.

Horace Mann, educator, social reformer, abolitionist, and one of the creators of the US public school system was its first president.

Mann's goal, which he achieved, was to create a university that would be nonsectarian, coeducational, and that did not utilize a conventional grading system.

The School of Applied Psychology, Counseling and Family Therapy is the largest and longest running program with close to 3,000 graduates since 1976.

in Liberal Studies program attracts students who like an individualized approach to completing their undergraduate degree.