MDPI Signs Global Agreement with CCCU and SCIO
We're pleased to announce our new partnership with the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU) and Scholarship and Christianity in Oxford (SCIO), the U.K. subsidiary of the CCCU. From October, more than 170 participating institutions will join MDPI's Institutional Open Access Program (IOAP). The agreement is open-ended and grants long-term access to membership benefits.
Benefits include discounts on article processing charges (APCs) across MDPI's journal portfolio, alongside discounts on processing charges for MDPI Books, Language Editing Services, and JAMS (Journal Article Management System). Institutions also gain access to a dedicated dashboard, providing real-time visibility of articles submitted by their researchers. This includes detailed article metadata, COUNTER 5.1-compliant data, downloadable reports, and information about editorial engagement.
"Our new partnership with CCCU and SCIO is a valuable opportunity to expand collaborations with the global academic community, featuring institutions from 22 countries across six continents," said Dr. Ryan Siu, Senior Institutional Partnerships Manager at MDPI. "Through our IOAP partnerships, we aim to build clearer pathways to Open Access and advance global knowledge exchange. We extend a warm welcome to our new members and their affiliated researchers."
The partnership currently includes institutions from the United States (131), Canada (9), Haiti (3), the Dominican Republic (1), the United Kingdom (2), the Netherlands (1), Romania (1), Hungary (2), Kenya (4), Ghana (2), Ethiopia (1), Uganda (1), Bolivia (1), Israel (3), Mongolia (1), South Korea (3), Japan (1), Taiwan (2), Singapore (1), Indonesia (1), Australia (4), and New Zealand (1). A full list of participating institutions will be available on the IOAP website.
In February, MDPI announced more than 1,000 partners had joined the IOAP. Through the IOAP, more than 61,300 research articles received APC discounts in 2025 alone, driving greater visibility and accessibility for partner institutions and global research communities alike. Our new partnership with CCCU and SCIO reflects continued demand for OA publishing services, ensuring published research is free to read, share, and download for all.
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For more information about the IOAP, please visit www.mdpi.com/ioap/ or contact: IOAP Team.
About CCCU & SCIO
The Council for Christian Colleges & Universities is a higher education association of more than 170 Christian institutions around the world. Since 1976, the CCCU has served as the leading voice of Christian higher education. With campuses across the globe, including more than 130 in the U.S. and Canada and more than 30 from an additional 21 countries, CCCU institutions are accredited, comprehensive colleges and universities whose missions are Christ-centered and rooted in the historic Christian faith. Most also have curricula rooted in the arts and sciences. The CCCU’s mission is to advance the cause of Christ-centered higher education and to help our institutions transform lives by faithfully relating scholarship and service to biblical truth.
SCIO is the UK subsidiary of the CCCU. It serves to facilitate research and scholarship in Oxford for undergraduate and graduate students as well as faculty members and leaders from CCCU member institutions.