The Urban University Program consists of eight public universities working together to serve the needs of Ohio's urban residents.

UUP member schools conduct research and provide hands-on management and technical assistance in search of solutions to such challenges as Ohio's aging housing stock; repair of an aging infrastructure (roads, bridges, sewers); local government management; stimulation of an often fluctuating economy; reduction of environmental pollution; and development of innovative teaching methods for urban education.

As Ohio's only statewide think tank for urban issues, the UUP was proposed by the Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs in 1979 and enacted by the Ohio General Assembly.