Our History

• 1986 – Union University of California was established. Classes were held in Los Angeles, San Jose, Houston, Washington D.C., and several other cities.
• 1999-2004 – Classes expanded to Australia, Cambodia, South Korea, and Thailand.
• 2005 – UCC began offering  training through online degree programs.
• 2016 – UUC received its initial accreditation from the Distance Education Accrediting Commission (DEAC), listed by the U.S. Department of Education as a nationally recognized accrediting agency.
• 2019 – UUC’s accreditation was renewed for five years (through January 2024).

For close to four decades, UUC has made tremendous impact through its academic programs, leadership training and development, and translation projects.

• More than 2,000 students have enrolled in UUC academic programs.
• More than 500 graduates have gone on to successful careers around the world.
• More than 50 graduates have continued their advanced studies at other universities in the United States and around the world.
• More than 1,000 students have received financial aid and scholarships.
• More than 100 volunteers have served with different capacities.
• Translated, edited and published nearly 40 books and documents with the permission of publishers and authors and widely disseminated in many countries around the world.

Union University of California has been training Christian leaders since 1986.

After 1975, The Vietnamese community in the United States grew and soon there were well over one million. Many members of the Vietnamese diaspora in the United States embraced Protestant Christianity as they assimilated into American culture. As a result, many Vietnamese Protestant Churches were founded in the United States and around the world. The increased number of Vietnamese Protestant Churches created a sizeable need for well trained Christian leaders and ordained pastors to minister to the Vietnamese churches and the Vietnamese communities they help maintain. A group of Vietnamese Christian pastors and leaders responded to this need.

In the summer of 1978, a group of ministers restarted the Theological Education by Extension program which had been established in Vietnam before the exodus. Classes were held at Friends Church of Garden Grove, CA on weekends, and correspondence lessons were sent to Vietnamese students who took refuge in other states and countries around the world. In 1985, the Vietnamese School for Lay Leadership was established at West Anaheim United Methodist Church in Anaheim, CA. In August 1986, these two programs joined together to establish the Vietnamese Theological College (VTC) as a religious exempted school and used Saint Anselm’s Episcopal Church as the main location. Classes were held in Los Angeles, San Jose, Houston, Washington D.C., and several other cities.Dr. Spencer T. Sutherland, a former C&MA missionary to Vietnam, served as the first president of the college. As the Vietnamese-American population and missionaries to Vietnam belonged to numerous Protestant denominations, VTC was formed as a non-denominational Christian post-secondary school.

In 1991, Dr. Le Hoang Phu assumed the presidency of VTC. Under his leadership, VTC expanded its ministry to include Vietnam and other countries around the world. In early 1992, an arsonist set fire to the VTC building in Westminster, CA. Virtually everything was lost in the fire including the library collection that, had grown to nearly 7,000 volumes. Though the fire destroyed the physical structure of the college, it did not destroy the spirit of VTC. The college leaders recognized the importance of the services that VTC offered to the Vietnamese community and mobilized to rebuild VTC and carry on the vision of its founders. Thanks to donations and loans from individual Christians and World Vision, VTC leaders were able to reestablish the college and reopen at a new facility on Lake Street in Garden Grove, CA. At that time, the Board of Directors decided to change the name of VTC to Union College of California (UCC). The name change reflected their desire to embrace the growing need for Christian education beyond the Vietnamese community in the United States and to extend educational opportunities to students worldwide.

In 1995, Rev. Dr. Cuong Nguyen succeeded the Rev. Dr. Le Hoang Phu as the third President and Rev. Dr. Dung Le became the Dean of the College. That same year, the California Bureau for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education (BPPVE) approved Union College of California to operate under California Education Code Section 94310. With this approval, UCC became the first and only state-approved Vietnamese college and the only Protestant Christian theological training institution for the Vietnamese worldwide.

In early 1998, UCC moved to another location on Taft Street, in Garden Grove, CA. In 2003, UCC moved to the present location, 14200 Goldenwest Street, Westminster, CA. During this time UCC was able to help train minsters of the underground churches in Vietnam and many have become key pastors, teachers, key leaders of house church movement and recognized churches. UCC has become the main producer of theological resources in the Vietnamese language.

Since the beginning, UCC offered both onsite and distance learning courses to reach out to the local as well as international communities. Classes were held on campus in California, and courses were offered to international students via mail. Since the introduction of the Internet, UCC followed the development of this technology and believed that someday it could be used to deliver quality education to students at a distance with minimized costs.

In 2005, after carefully studying much research on the effectiveness of online education, UCC’s leadership realized that online technology had reached the point where it could be used to deliver quality education to students wherever they are in the world at the lowest possible cost. After multiple attempts, in the Fall Semester of 2005, UCC offered our first online courses. Onsite classes soon faded out.

In 2009, the name was changed to Union University of California. The school expand the vision and mission to serve beyond the Vietnamese community by adding programs in English, Indonesian.

In 2011, Rev. Dr. Cuong Huu Nguyen retired and the Board of Directors appointed Rev. Dr. Dale Sewall as the new president of UUC. Under his leadership, UUC has become known to a wider circle of churches and Christian organizations as well as established seminaries and committed to overcome language, immobility and financial barriers through an online distance learning methodology designed to prepare students to serve God effectively in their locations and vocations.

In 2012, the Board and administration made the decision to seek official accreditation in the US. After exploring several options, the decision was made to seek accreditation from the Distance Education Accrediting Commission (DEAC – formerly Distance Education and Training Council (DETC), listed by the U.S. Department of Education as a nationally recognized accrediting agency and a recognized member of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. During this time UUC also helped establish Union University International (UUI) as separate institution registered as a religious exempted school with the State of California. to continue to respond to the acute needs of students who otherwise could not meet the requirements of an accredited school.

In January 2016, UUC received full accreditation from DEAC.