Viterbo University Mission
The Viterbo University community prepares students for faithful service and ethical leadership.
Viterbo University Vision
The University of Opportunity envisions Viterbo as a premier university that is innovative, creative, and flexible as well as progressive, collaborative, and ever-evolving that has as its foundation deeply embedded Franciscan values.
Institutional Goals
1. To uphold, represent, and share the faith needed to bring learning, morality, and values into effective relationships.
2. To build community through self-acceptance, intellectual development, creative expression, personal relationships, and religious integration.
3. To affirm Viterbo University as a Catholic, Christian, independent, small, liberal arts, coeducational university which is of unique value and service to its students and the La Crosse community and is worthy of support from public and private sources.
4. To promote academic excellence and an intellectual climate through competent instruction, enriching campus activities, and a healthy learning environment.
5. To improve and develop academic programs which meet the needs of both traditional and nontraditional students and are in harmony with the institution's mission.
6. To integrate program planning and facilities planning with budget planning so that departmental objectives contribute directly to the attainment of institutional goals.
Statement of Purpose
Viterbo's vision and values are found in the Gospel as reflected in the heritage of St. Francis and the Order of Sisters which founded the institution.
The university's primary purposes are:
1. To offer baccalaureate liberal arts degree programs along with career and professional opportunities on both a full- and part-time basis.
2. To offer opportunities for life-long learning through degree completion programs, specialized professional degree programs, and continuing education as well as selected masters degree programs.
3. To develop a total program of studies, adapted to the needs and interests of the students, which will stimulate the fullest possible growth of the intellectual and creative powers of each student.
4. To create an educational environment which will stimulate free inquiry, a search for truth, aesthetic appreciation, intellectual integrity, and leadership potential.
5. To foster the integration of knowledge with religious and ethical values.
6. To deepen in the students an appreciation of one's own cultural heritage and traditions, as well as those of others.
7. To facilitate the formation of a Christian community which offers opportunities for religious dialogue, experience, and worship, and which manifests mutual care, honesty, respect and love.
8. To maintain a Catholic Christian orientation and a fidelity to the continuance of the traditions of the Catholic Church and the spirit of Franciscanism.
9. To provide a milieu which fosters growth in self-actualization, emotional maturity, religious convictions, and a dedication to the ideals of service.
10. To facilitate integration of the living and learning aspects of student development.
Viterbo University is a Roman Catholic liberal arts university located in La Crosse, Wisconsin in the Diocese of La Crosse.
In 1890, the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration founded the college as St. Rose Normal School as a sisters' college to prepare nuns to teach in elementary schools. College courses began in 1923.
The school developed a four-year college program, and by the 1931-1932 school became known as St. Rose Junior College. In 1937, the college was renamed Viterbo College. In 1939, the College was approved as a four-year degree-granting institution. Lay women were admitted starting in 1934. The school lost its women's college status and became coeducational when men were allowed to enter beginning in 1970.
On September 4, 2000 the college formally became a university as the school was renamed to Viterbo University.
Viterbo is best known for its nursing and theatre undergraduate programs along with its master's program in Education. The College enrolls some 1900 undergraduate and 700 graduate students in its 50 undergraduate majors, 27 minors, and 4 graduate programs.
Viterbo University has experienced rapid growth since its inception as a co-educational establishment in 1970. In 1971, the school's Fine Arts Center was completed. In 1987, the school's athletic center was built. In 2004, the Reinhart Center for Ethics in Leadership (the sciences building) was completed, and in 2005 the Mathy Center expansion to the 1987 athletics building was completed. The Mathy Center is a collaboration between Viterbo University and the local Boys and Girls Club of LaCrosse--the first such effort in the country. A remodel of the Todd Wehr Memorial Library within the Murphy main academic Building was completed in 2006, and the school bookstore was remodeled in the summer of 2006. Further, several new residence halls have been completed in the past decade. The Brophy Nursing Building will undergo significant renovations within two years. Potential expansions not currently planned include an expansion of the Reinhart Center, the addition of an indoor pool facility as part of the Mathy Center, and renovation of the Student Union and Student Development Center.
|
Full-Time vs. Part-Time
|
Men vs. Women
|
||||
|
Race/Ethnicity
|
|
In State vs. Out-of-State
|
Top States for Incoming Freshman
|
| Percent of Students International: | 0% |
| On-Campus Housing Available: | Yes |
| Percent of Students Living On-Campus: | 30% |
| Freshman Students Required to Live on Campus: | Yes |
| Member of: | NAA, NAIA |
| Sports Include: |
Basketball (Midwest Classic Conference) Baseball (Midwest Classic Conference) |
| Tuition & Fees (undergraduate) | Expenses | ||
Published Tuition and Fees: |
$ 16,660 | ||
Average Tuition for Full-Time Undergrads: |
$ 16,240 | ||
Required Fees for Full-Time Undergrads: |
$ 420 | ||
| Financial Aid | Avg. Amount Received | % of Students Receiving Aid | |
Federal Grants: |
$ 4,194 | 39% | |
State and Local Grants: |
$ 2,490 | 52% | |
Institutional Grants: |
$ 6,488 | 98% | |
Student Loans: |
$ 3,345 | 86% | |
Any Aid: |
99% |
| Acceptance Rate: | 86% (Selective) |
| Test Scores | |
| ACT Scores: | |
| % of Students Submitting ACT Scores: | 93% |
| Bottom 25th Percentile: | Composite: 19, Verbal: 18, Math: 18 |
| Top 75th Percentile: | Composite: 24, Verbal: 24, Math: 23 |
| Application Fee: | $ 25.00 |
| Formal Demonstration of Competencies: | Recommended |
| High School Diploma or Equivalent: | Not Required |
| High School GPA: | Required |
| High School Rank: | Recommended |
| High School Record: | Required |
| Recommendations: | Recommended |
| TOEFL: | Recommended |
| Test Scores: | Required |
