Two colleges, One Education

The College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University are two liberal arts colleges located four miles apart in Central Minnesota. Saint Benedict’s is a college for women and Saint John’s is a college for men. The students of these two colleges share in one common education, as well as coeducational social, cultural and spiritual programs. The colleges encourage students to come to terms with their own personal development in relation to their peers and to bring that enriched understanding into the lively coeducational life which characterizes the two campuses.

The College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University have a common curriculum, identical degree requirements and a single academic calendar. All academic departments are joint, and classes are offered throughout the day on both campuses. The academic program is coordinated by the Provost, who is assisted by the Vice Provost and the Academic Dean. In addition, there is one admission office, a joint registrar’s office, a combined library system, joint academic computing services and a myriad of joint student activities and clubs. The two campuses are linked by free bus service throughout the day and late into the night.

The colleges enroll approximately 3200 students from 30 states and 20 foreign countries and trust territories. Saint Benedict’s enrolls 1600 women; Saint John’s enrolls 1600 men. The combined faculties include approximately 300 professors, among them Benedictines and lay professors with diverse religious and cultural backgrounds. Many faculty members, both lay and Benedictine, live on or near the campuses and participate actively in campus life.

The liberal arts education provided by the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University is rooted in the Catholic university tradition and guided by the Benedictine principles of the colleges’ founders and sponsoring religious communities. These principles stress cultivation of the love of God, neighbor -and self through the art of listening, worship, and balanced, humane living. The liberal arts, valuable in themselves, are the center of disciplined inquiry and a rich preparation for the professions, public life and service to others in many forms of work. Graduates of the two colleges have a distinguished record in each of these areas.

Recognition of individual worth without regard for wealth or social standing is explicit in The Rule of Benedict. In harmony with this principle, the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University seek to exemplify an authentically Christian concern for human rights and to make education broadly available to students on the sole criterion of ability to benefit from enrollment in the colleges. While the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University have historically served first their own region, they welcome growing numbers of students and faculty from diverse cultures and regions, and increasingly serve a national and international community.