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Office
of Corporate, Foundation and Government Grants
University History and Constituency Served
Benedictine University is an independent, Catholic, comprehensive,
501 (c) (3) institution of higher education dedicated to serving
a student population that is increasingly diverse in its ethnic,
racial, and religious backgrounds. As an academic community committed
to liberal arts and professional education, the University's mission
is to prepare students for a lifetime as active, informed and
responsible citizens and leaders in the world community.
The University was founded in Chicago in 1887 as St. Procopius
College by the Benedictine monks of St. Procopius Abbey and secured
a state charter in 1890. In 1901, the College moved 25 miles west,
to the Village of Lisle and its first building was dedicated in
September 1901. The College became coeducational in 1968 and was
renamed Illinois Benedictine College (IBC) in 1971. In response
to community needs, IBC added graduate, doctoral and adult learner
academic programs. It became Benedictine University in 1996. In
2001, the University completed a major portion of a comprehensive
rebuilding plan with the opening of the Kindlon Hall of Learning,
a state-of-the-art learning center, and the Birck Hall of Science,
a modern and technically advanced science facility, filled with
laboratories, digital classrooms and modern research equipment.
Benedictine University offers 43 undergraduate majors, 10 graduate
programs, a Ph.D. program in Organization Development and an Ed.D.
program in Higher Education and Organizational Change and is accredited
by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association
of Colleges and Schools, the Illinois State Board of Education
Teacher Preparation Certificate Section and the National League
for Nursing Accrediting Commission.
Today, the University enrolls 3,900 students (2,657 undergraduates
and 1,243 graduate and doctoral). More than 29% of our new undergraduate
students are minorities. Sixty-two percent of our students receive
federal need-based financial aid and 78% receive some type of
financial aid, including scholarships. Currently, U.S. News and
World Report ranks Benedictine in the top 25% of schools ranked
as "Best Universities in the Midwest" and the University
is listed among the schools with the most diverse student bodies
for the seventh consecutive year. We have an undergraduate enrollment
that is 10.1% African-American, 13% Asian American and Pacific
Islander and 5.8% Hispanic
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