Who We Are
About NLC
Established as a training center by the AFL-CIO in 1969 to strengthen union member education and organizing skills, the National Labor College is the nation’s only accredited higher education institution devoted exclusively to educating union members, leaders and staff.
The NLC became a degree-granting college in 1997 and in March 2004 gained accreditation from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.
With a 47-acre campus located in Silver Spring, Maryland, a new 72,000 square-foot state- of-the-art academic and conference center, and hotel quality residence halls, the College is well equipped to provide the classroom, meeting spaces and superb dining services, which have become our trademark. And the College has been the venue for an increasing number of national and international conferences on organizing, labor rights, civil rights, health care and pension benefits among other areas.
The NLC is also the home of the ”National Workers Memorial” erected on campus to honor the memory of workers killed or fatally injured on the job, or in service to the labor movement.
Since its founding, more than 200,000 union officers and members have taken one or more of our union skills courses and over 1,100 BA degrees in labor studies have been granted. Recipients include international union presidents and officers, local union officials and stewards and workers from virtually every national and international union.
Mission Statement
By establishing the physical and intellectual space for the labor union to imagine its future, the mission of the National Labor College (NLC) is to make higher education available to workers; to prepare union members, leaders, and staff for the challenges of a changing global environment and to serve as a center for progressive thought and union learning.
Campus History
1969
- AFL-CIO President George Meany founds labor studies center under the direction of Fred K. Hoehler Jr. to promote education and training opportunities for union leadership and rank-and-file members. Recognizing the potential value and importance of an education and training center to the further development of trade unionism, the Executive Council of the AFL-CIO decided to locate a suitable permanent campus for the pursuit of labor studies.
1974
- George Meany Center for Labor Studies, is formally dedicated and opens on 47-acre site in suburban Silver Spring, Maryland. This site dates back three centuries. At the time of purchase by the AFL-CIO in September, 1971, it was owned and operated by a Roman Catholic religious order, the Xaverian Brothers. This also marked the beginning of a program of undergraduate degree offerings. The Bachelor of Arts Degree in Labor Studies was launched through a partnership with Antioch College. This program continued for 20 years.
1976
- Growth of the Antioch undergraduate program and the continued development of the Center leads to the expansion of campus facilities. Hoehler Hall is built to expand residential capacity for students enrolled in courses at the Center.
1985
- Robert J. Pleasure, JD, MSE, is named Executive Director of the George Meany Center for Labor Studies
1987
- George Meany Memorial Archives building is opened. The Archives serve as an important resource for research by scholars and members of the general public.
1997
- Under the leadership of AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney, the Center is authorized to grant baccalaureate degrees by the State of Maryland Higher Education Commission and became an independent institution of higher learning and renamed the National Labor College.
- Susan J. Schurman, Ph.D., is named first president of the NLC.
1999
- University of Baltimore begins offering graduate degree programs on the GMC-NLC campus. These programs are specifically tailored to the needs of GMC-NLC students.
2000
- Name of the institution changes to George Meany Center for Labor Studies—the National Labor College (GMC-NLC) in recognition of the institution’s origins and its promise for the future of the labor movement.
2003
- College embarks on an ambitious campus-wide refurbishment and expansion program that includes opening the new residence facility and breaking ground on the new Lane Kirkland Center that will feature new classrooms, a distance learning center, dining hall and administrative offices.
2004
- GMC-NLC was granted accreditation by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education in recognition that the institution meets all of the Commission’s standards for excellence and is a culmination of a rigorous four-year evaluation process.
- Board of Trustees unanimously voted to change the name of the institution to the National Labor College-George Meany Campus, reflecting its evolution from a training center to an accredited degree-granting college.
2006
- Newest campus facility construction is completed, administration offices are moved, dining and conferencing operations begin, state-of-the-art teaching and learning facilities become available.
2007
- New 72,000 square foot facility—the Lane Kirkland Center—is formally dedicated in honor of Lane Kirkland, who served as president of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations from 1979-1995.
- June - President Susan J. Schurman retires.
- December - William E. Scheuerman becomes President.
2008
- College completes its first comprehensive three-year plan with benchmarks and accomplishments.
- December - Thomas J. Kriger becomes Provost.
2009
- College is approved to offer federal financial aid.