The University of Bridgeport is a private, independent, non-sectarian, coeducational university located on the Long Island Sound in the South End neighborhood of Bridgeport, Connecticut. The University is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC-CIHE). The University is known for its diverse student population, currently ranking as the eleventh most racially diverse national university in the country by U.S. News and World Report. The University School, a high school, is also on the University's grounds. The university had financial troubles in the 1990s and was the subject of controversy when the trustees were obligated to enter into serious negotiations with and subsequently gave control of the institution to the Professors World Peace Academy (PWPA), an affiliate of the Unification Church, a new religious movement founded by Sun Myung Moon in Seoul, South Korea in 1954, in order to save it from closure. The school was founded in 1927 as the Junior College of Connecticut, under a charter by the state legislature. In 1947 it became the University of Bridgeport, when it gained state authority to grant baccalaureate degrees.