“Private university in Bridgeport, Connecticut offering 60+ career-oriented degree programs.”
The University of Bridgeport (UB) is a private university on Connecticut's Long Island Sound shoreline, founded in 1927 as the first junior college in Connecticut and elevated to university status in 1947. Sitting on an 86-acre coastal campus adjacent to Seaside Park — land once owned by P.T. Barnum — UB today enrolls roughly 5,000 students across bachelor's, master's, and doctoral programs spread through 14 schools and colleges. Since being acquired by Goodwin University in 2021, UB has retained its own name, brand, and board while stabilising academically around its strongest professional programs. UB's identity is built on career-directed and health-science education. The university houses one of the few chiropractic schools on the East Coast, the Fones School of Dental Hygiene (the oldest dental hygiene program in the world), a Physician Assistant Institute, a School of Nursing, and the only Chinese medicine program in Connecticut. The School of Engineering and Computer Science has drawn national attention for its graduate programs; its MS in Artificial Intelligence was recently ranked No. 8 nationally by TechGuide in 2026. Undergraduate majors span business, psychology, criminal justice, dental hygiene, and design, while the School of Health Sciences anchors the graduate enrolment. UB is widely regarded as one of the most internationally diverse private universities in the Northeast, with roughly 1,200 international students from more than 80 countries on campus. Student life is urban, diverse, and commuter-friendly, with NCAA Division II Purple Knights athletics, an on-campus English Language Institute that supports students who do not yet meet the direct-entry English threshold, and easy train access to New York City, 60 miles down the Metro-North line. The university markets itself aggressively to career-changers and international applicants looking for a small, affordable, professionally oriented US degree.
Visa, OPT, H-1B alumni outcomes, and acceptance rates by country — sourced from FOIA, USCIS H-1B Hub, and DHS SEVIS.
International Student Enrollment (F-1)
DHS SEVIS by the Numbers (2024)
Most affordable bachelor's degree in Connecticut
affordabledegreeguide.org, 2025
Test Optional — You can submit scores if they help your case, but they're not required.
Official SourceEarly Action I
Early Action II
The deep admissions playbook beyond the headline acceptance rate — round-by-round breakdowns, nationality data, requirements, and contact paths.
Tuition & Fees (All Students)
$35,760
/yr
Beyond the sticker price — every named scholarship, the financial aid policy, need-aware notes, and a personalized net-cost estimate.
How life on campus actually feels — clubs, sports, traditions, housing realities, and how the school integrates with its city.
2 years
Ranked No. 8 nationally by TechGuide (2026); a STEM-designated program with strong intake from international students and a focus on applied machine learning.
4 years
One of the few chiropractic schools on the US East Coast, with on-campus clinic rotations; a draw for international health-science applicants.
4 years
Offered by the Fones School — the oldest dental hygiene program in the world — with a dedicated on-campus teaching clinic.
Where alumni go after graduation — top industries, grad-school continuation, and the qualitative outcomes story.
Sticker price (annual, out-of-state): $35,760
Net-cost estimate is US-resident-only — international applicants are typically excluded from need-based aid at most schools and should treat the sticker price as the planning baseline.
