This issue has been solved. The University has 1 license file that is stored on a server. But each Matlab program needs to have a pointer to that license file. The license.dat or network.lic files in your Matlab directory are not enough (or not useful) if you are using a university owned license.
I had to add a new "environment variable" to my windows OS called "MLM_LICENSE_FILE" that pointed to the location of the actual license file on the university server. On Windows 2010 Go to "Computer" select "System Properties", "Advanced", and click on "Environment Variables", add a new variable called "MLM_LICENSE_FILE" with the contents pointing to the server on which the license is stored (need to get this from your university). I added both a user variable and a system variable as it was unclear which was necessary.