ABOUT
Who We Are
Mission and Vision
Our Mission is to empower students to become successful, resilient, socially engaged, and ethical citizens of the world for life. Our Vision is that by 2030 leading universities will adopt our operating and academic innovations and model to reform and improve Higher Education in service to society.
We are a team of educators and entrepreneurs with a vision
We are the first private nonprofit undergraduate university to call washington dc home in over 100 years
At NewU we believe in leadership by example. Many talk about change in Higher Education, but actual initiatives are limited and far between. We built NewU with everything that works well in Higher Education, subtracted a lot that doesn’t, and added quite a few improvements. We are proud of the milestones we achieved in the past 5 years, which culminate in this rare and bold opportunity to do good for the DC community, for the country, and for the world.
Accreditation and Licensure
NewU University is a 501(c)(3) private nonprofit degree-granting post-secondary educational institution, licensed to operate and issue Bachelor of Arts (BA) and Bachelor of Science (BS) degrees by the Washington DC Higher Education Licensure Commission (HELC).
NewU successfully completed the Pre-Application process with the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE). The institution is now in the next stage of the accreditation process, and is currently engaged with and listed by MSCHE as an Applicant on the accreditor’s website page PRE-APPLICANT, APPLICANT, AND CANDIDATE INSTITUTIONS, which is publicly available here.
More on HELC: The Commission strives to be a national leader in licensing, compliance monitoring, and enforcement and outreach that ensures students are protected and approved postsecondary institutions provide quality education and training programs.
Source: HELC 10/30/2022
Licensure in our nation’s capital by the DC HELC is mandatory for all universities, and serves as a transparent and rigorous quality control and oversight mechanism.
For a list of FAQs or to contact HELC with questions, comments, or grievances, visit the HELC website here. A complete list of HELC-approved institutions is available here.
More on MSCHE: The Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) is a global institutional accreditor recognized by the United States Secretary of Education since 1952. As an accreditor and member of the regulatory triad, MSCHE assures students and the public of the educational quality for its over 500 institutions of higher education. The Commission’s accreditation process ensures institutional accountability, self-appraisal, improvement, and innovation through peer review and the rigorous application of standards within the context of institutional mission.
Source: MSCHE website 10/1/2023
To contact MSCHE, visit their website here.
NewU Credits Are Transferrable To and From Accredited Universities
Accredited by WASC.
Students can transfer credits between SFBU and NewU under the terms of our Articulation Agreement. Contact us or SFBU for details on articulated programs.
Accredited by HLC.
Students can transfer credits between NAU and NewU under the terms of our Articulation Agreement. Contact us or NAU for details on articulated programs.
Accredited by MSCHE. Students can transfer credits from PGCC to NewU under the terms of our Articulation Agreement. Contact us or PGCC for details on articulated programs.
Accredited by TRACS.
Students can transfer credits between Visible and NewU under the terms of our Articulation Agreement. Contact us or Visible for details on articulated programs.
Partners and Supporters
Board of Directors
Stratsi Kulinski is the founder and President & CEO of NewU University, the first 3-year Bachelor’s degree college in the US. He previously held various positions with companies in media, telecom, and finance living and working all around the globe prior to finding his passion for higher education.
A graduate of the inaugural class of students at the American University in Bulgaria with a BA in Business Administration, he also served as the first alumni president of that university, where he passionately and tirelessly worked to improve governance on the Board of Trustees, fired up student, alumni, and donor engagement, and steered his Alma Mater in the right direction as President. During that time he was also on the Board of the Fulbright Commission in Sofia.
President Kulinski earned his MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Viktoriya V. Zotova is a business professor with expertise in financial management, macroeconomic policy analysis, and climate change disclosures. She earned her PhD from the R. H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, focusing on capital markets, global capital flows, and climate change regulation, and is an ALM candidate at Harvard University with a focus on Legal Studies. She also has a certificate in Sustainability and Climate Risk from the Global Association of Risk Professionals.
For nearly a decade, Dr. Zotova has worked at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), primarily on capital flow policies and regulations. She has several publications under the IMF banner, including multiple issues of the Annual Report on Exchange Arrangements and Exchange Restrictions (AREAER) and a book chapter on China’s capital flows liberalization.
Dr. Zotova is one of the founding members of NewU University where she manages financial operations as the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer. She also teaches undergraduate and graduate courses at Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business. Dr. Zotova has contributed to media outlets on macroeconomic and financial topics, including cryptocurrency, and has presented her research at conferences in the US and abroad.
India Ingersoll is a native Washingtonian and graduate of Pepperdine University. She was the Executive Director of The Fare Connection nonprofit which sought to battle food insecurity in the D.C. area.
India has a BA in Economics. While in college she served as the CFO of her chapter of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority, and was a member of the Pepperdine Investing Club.
Since moving back to DC she has been working as a growth professional in the tech space for a shopping platform that helps creators monetize their content and in the nonprofit space.
Kenneth Ward is the Executive Director of College Bound, Inc. in Washington, D.C. As a Fulbright Memorial scholar in Japan and a seasoned D.C. educator and administrator for 15 years, he has been instrumental in creating academic and personal enrichment programs for students, such as the Young Ambassadors program. He has participated in the International Teacher Exchange program where he studied best practices in Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia and has also volunteered in Ethiopia.
Mr. Ward holds a Bachelor's degree in communications from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he matriculated on a Pogue Scholarship and a Master’s degree in education from Trinity. Mr. Ward participated in the Nonprofit Management Executive Certificate Program at Georgetown and was bestowed the 2012 Harvey Elliott Beech Outstanding Alumni Award from the University of North Carolina for his outstanding personal achievements. He serves on the Advisory Board at UNC for the Learning and Writing Center and the Friends of the Library. He is an active member of the Perry Community Center Services Center and Achievement Prep boards.
S. Mitchell Pinkowski is a devoted educator with a distinguished academic career, and a founding faculty member at NewU University. He attended Deerfield Academy and earned honors degrees from Emory University (B. A.) and St. John’s College’s Graduate Institute (M.A.). He now serves on the English faculty at Merrimack College in Massachusetts, teaching college writing, rhetoric, and literature.
Mitch built his career teaching in college prep schools in New England and the Mid-Atlantic region, and as an Academic Director to the Great Books summer programs at Amherst and Haverford Colleges. He served as an English Department Head for 10 years, a teacher of AP Literature for 15 years, and held various positions as both a mentor of newer faculty and as a pioneer of new educational trends. He has spoken to national and regional audiences on “How to Revolutionize the English Classroom” and has a lengthy professional commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion work, to experiential education, and to engagement in the local community.
As a global citizen, Mitch has lived and taught in Japan, lived for five years in Saudi Arabia as a youth, and has traveled to more than 30 countries and all 50 of the United States.
Milestones
2017
Idea Inception
2018
Concept Validation, Strategy and Planning, Founding Partners
2019
Incorporation, 501(c)(3) Status, Team
2020
Academic Programs and Policies Design
2021
Licensure, Go-to-Market, IT Systems
2022
Campus and First Class of Students
2023
Second Cohort of Students
2024