By Dan Merica and Kevin Liptak

CNN

(CNN) -- Former Vice President Joe Biden will split his post-White House time between a foreign policy institute at the University of Pennsylvania and a domestic policy institute at the University of Delaware, the two universities announced on Tuesday.

Biden has been named the Benjamin Franklin presidential practice professor at the University of Pennsylvania, where the former vice president will lead the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement. He will also serve at the founding chair of the University of Delaware's Biden Institute, according to the school.

The Biden Institute at the University Delaware will be located in Newark, Delaware, while the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement will be located in Washington where Joe and Jill Biden intend to rent a house so Jill Biden can continue teaching at community college in Northern Virginia.

"Every day of my career in public service has been motivated by the desire to ensure that every American is treated with dignity and gets a fair shot," Biden said regarding his position at the University of Delaware, the school he graduated from in 1965. "I am happy to continue that work at my alma mater, a place that is stamped on my heart."

Biden's University of Delaware project will focus on studying civil rights, criminal justice, women's rights and more, the university announced.

Biden, who stepped away from elected office in January after more than 40 years, said Tuesday that his focus at the University of Pennsylvania will focus on "promoting and protecting the post-WWII international order that keeps the United States safe and strong."

"The Penn Biden Center and I will be engaging with Penn's wonderful students while partnering with its eminent faculty and global centers to convene world leaders, develop and advance smart policy, and impact the national debate about how America can continue to lead in the 21st century," he said.