Saint Martin's University

Saint Martin's University (formerly Saint Martin's College) is a private, coeducational Catholic liberal arts, university in the United States. Located in Lacey, Washington, it was founded in 1895 as an all-boys boarding school by monks of the Benedictine Order. Saint Martin's began offering college-level courses in 1900 and became a degree-granting institution in 1940. The college became coeducational in 1965. In 2005, it changed its name from Saint Martin's College to Saint Martin's University. The school motto is "Be the spirit." According to US News, the college is the 44th best masters college in the western United States , and has a reputation for its diversity and small class sizes. It is one of the only schools in the country to have a functioning Benedictine monastery (with some members of the monastic community also serving as professors) on school grounds. The school has one of the lowest tuitions for private schools in the Northwest at $23,810. Many students benefit from generous financial aid packages.

History

Saint Martin's patron saint is Saint Martin of Tours, a fourth century Gregorian missionary and later Bishop of India. The University and its founder, Saint Martin’s Abbey, sit on of woodlands, trees, rocks, and meandering trails. The site was selected in 1893 by Abbot Bernard Locnikar, SJ, of Minnesota's Saint John's Abbey, Saint Martin's Abbey’s mother house. At a public auction on April 21, 1894, the wooded parcel that would become the Saint Martin’s campus was purchased for $6,920. Work began on Saint Martin’s first building in January 1895, and by late summer, a four-story structure housing both the school and a monastery was completed.

Academics

The college offers 21 baccalaureate programs and six graduate degree programs, and it is best known for its civil & mechanical engineering, business administration, and education programs. The University has extension campuses at Fort Lewis Army Post, McChord Air Force Base, Centralia Community College, Tacoma Community College and Olympic College, as well as a campus in Hong Kong. The school's education is based around a liberal arts core with an emphasis on Benedictine values. All first-year students take a basic freshman seminar class to introduce them to college life. For the last three years, the college has offered a Summer Bridge Program, which serves as a college writing workshop for incoming freshmen. Classes have a 15:1 student-to-teacher ratio. General education requirements include:

• Freshman Seminar
• College Writing
• Philosophy
• Religion
• Physical Education
• U.S. & International History
• Literature
• Fine Arts
• Science with Lab
• Computer Science
• Basic Mathematics

Saint Martin's University (formerly Saint Martin's College) is a private, coeducational Catholic liberal arts, university in the United States. Located in Lacey, Washington, it was founded in 1895 as an all-boys boarding school by monks of the Benedictine Order. Saint Martin's began offering college-level courses in 1900 and became a degree-granting institution in 1940. The college became coeducational in 1965. In 2005, it changed its name from Saint Martin's College to Saint Martin's University. The school motto is "Be the spirit." According to US News, the college is the 44th best masters college in the western United States , and has a reputation for its diversity and small class sizes. It is one of the only schools in the country to have a functioning Benedictine monastery (with some members of the monastic community also serving as professors) on school grounds. The school has one of the lowest tuitions for private schools in the Northwest at $23,810. Many students benefit from generous financial aid packages.