A court has blocked the alleged takeover of Antioch for now.
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When Antioch and Otterbein Universities joined forces in 2023 to create the Coalition for the Common Good, it was supposed to be the start of a national university system focused on graduate education and adult learners.
The model was designed to allow Otterbein—a small, undergraduate-focused institution in Ohio—to offer its students more pathways to graduate and professional degree programs via the existing programs at Antioch, which has multiple campuses in four states.
Both universities were adamant that the partnership was not a merger, but rather a business alliance. Under the affiliation agreement, the CCG became the parent of the two institutions, though they each maintained autonomous governance structures. At the same time, a shared board made up of four members from each institution and one independent member was created to oversee all decisions that affected the CCG as a whole, such as taking on new debt or launching new programs.
