Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) is a university in North West England. Its headquarters and central campus is in the city of Manchester, but there are outlying facilities in the county of Cheshire. It is the third largest university in the United Kingdom in terms of student numbers, behind the Open University and its neighbour Manchester University. It is a member of the University Alliance and is classed as a new university. On 1 January 1970 Manchester Polytechnic was formed by the amalgamation of Manchester College of Art and Design, Manchester College of Commerce (founded 1889) and John Dalton College of Technology. On 1 January 1977, the polytechnic merged with the Didsbury College of Education and Hollings College, and on 1 January 1983 with City of Manchester College of Higher Education. In 1987 the institution became a founding member of the Northern Consortium. Having previously been a local authority institution, the polytechnic became a corporate body on the 1st April 1989, as allowed by the terms of the Education Reform Act 1988.