United is a not-for-profit university college affiliated with University of Waterloo and located on its main campus. We serve the University of Waterloo community by:
- Teaching and providing support for Waterloo courses, including the International Development and the Master of Development Practice programs.
- Providing residence to students of all faculties, including live-in programming such as the Environment Living-Learning Community, the Women in Engineering Living-Learning Community and the International Engineering Living Community. We also offer a French-language residence floor.
- Supporting students to pursue and launch new ideas for social or environmental change. GreenHouse is a social impact incubator that offers programs, opportunities and a community for students to develop problem solving skills, to form innovative ideas and make new forms of sustainable impact around social or environmental change.
- Offering modern, on-campus apartments, private rooms, and suites for graduate and upper-year students.
- Providing the Waterloo Indigenous Student Centre, which facilitates the sharing of Indigenous knowledge and provides culturally relevant support services for all members of the University of Waterloo community, including Indigenous and non-Indigenous students, staff, and faculty.
What's a university college?
People are sometimes confused by the term "college" and how it relates to the University of Waterloo. "College" in this context does not mean "community college," but rather a small teaching and living environment within a larger university.
History
Local members of the United Church of Canada, Waterloo Presbytery, established the College in 1962 to contribute programs and a student living-learning community to the new University.
Today, United College operates independently of the United Church as a legacy corporation – meaning there is no formal or legal relationship. However, we continue to express our founding values through our mission to educate social innovators to shape a just and humane world. We are committed to the value of learning in community, and to responsible service and respect for other cultures as critical marks of the educated citizen.