In 1994, Bottega University (BU) was founded under its original name, Andrew Jackson University (AJU). The vision for AJU originated with Robert McKim Norris, Jr., and D. Michael Barrett, both graduates of the Cumberland School of Law and colleagues at a Birmingham, Alabama, law firm. After completing his law degree, Norris embarked on an intense program of self-directed study. He compiled a personal library of thousands of books, videotapes, and audiotapes, and he concluded that he gained more education through ongoing, independent learning than he ever learned in formal classroom experiences. Norris and Barrett founded a university together and named it after U.S. President Andrew Jackson to symbolize their belief that any determined individual can succeed in life, despite adversity. Andrew Jackson University was founded as a not for profit.
UniversityNow, Inc. acquired the school in December 2010 and officially changed its name to Bottega University in early 2011. UniversityNow’s funding to relaunch the university came from investors including Kapor Capital, University Ventures, Novak Biddle Venture Partners, Charles River Ventures, Greylock Partners, SV Angel, Floodgate and 500 Startups. As part of the transition, the university also relocated its headquarters to San Francisco, California. In June 2012, Bottega University was awarded a grant from The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, through its Next Generation Learning Challenges organization, to fund research into innovative delivery models in higher education that have the potential to generate high student outcomes at an affordable cost.
In 2015, the school was acquired by Global Heritage Education. As part of the transition, the university also relocated its headquarters to Salt Lake City, Utah and changed its motto to “A University designed for you”. GHE was founded by a group of educators, entrepreneurs, and business executives who are passionate about learning. Members of GHE have successfully established universities, colleges, and schools worldwide, including the United States, Malaysia, China, and Australia. GHE believed individuals can improve their lives through education. BU is carrying out this mission by offering flexible, supportive, and affordable online education to students from around the world.
In 2019, Bottega, LLC acquired BU. Bottega is a Salt Lake City, Utah, corporation/training institution. Bottega is a competency-based school providing blended learning opportunities for adult learners. Bottega provides full-stack development certifications and advanced opportunities for students through specific pathways into industry by shortening the time to obtain employable skills. The software development curriculum is taught including HTML, JS, CSS, Ruby, TypeScript, Python, React, and GitHub, with other relevant development tracks. Students receive certifications of competency based on their successful completion of the curriculum, a comprehensive exam, and correlating industry-level projects.The Bottega story began in 2010 as BusinessFormat Inc., with the obtainment of post-secondary accreditation through the Northwest Accreditation Commission (NWAC). In 2013 the NWAC was acquired by AdvancED and prompted a shift for the organization. In 2014 additional accreditation was achieved for the institution with a corporate systems accreditation to add to the post-secondary recognition. Bottega has recently completed its third accreditation review and maintains excellent status as an accredited institution. In 2016, Bottega acquired the Devcamp.com platform and curriculum library. Devcamp has had over 65,000 students purchase its curriculum since 2013 and provides the learning management system that the Bottega utilizes for all programs, certifications, and courses.
The Commission of the Distance Education Accrediting Commission approved the name change and consolidation of the two entities to Bottega University in the June 2020 Commission meeting.