Benedictine University is dedicated to the education of undergraduate and graduate students from diverse ethnic, racial and religious backgrounds. As an academic community committed to liberal arts and professional education distinguished and guided by our Roman Catholic tradition and Benedictine heritage, we prepare our students for a lifetime as active, informed and responsible citizens and leaders in the world community.
Benedictine University is a Catholic University in the Benedictine Tradition that Provides a Values-Centered Liberal Arts Education Enriched by Our Excellence in Science.
- Forbes magazine named Benedictine among the top 20 percent of America’s colleges for the second consecutive year in 2012.
- In 2012, The Chronicle of Higher Education ranked Benedictine University as the No.1 fastest-growing campus in the country among private nonprofit research institutions universities between 2000-2010.
- U.S. News & World Report recognized Benedictine University as eighth in Illinois for highest average freshman retention rate for Master’s Universities in the Midwest for 2011.
- Benedictine University is ranked 12th in the Midwest and sixth in Illinois for Racial Diversity among Master’s Universities in the Midwest for 2011 by U.S. News & World Report.
- Benedictine’s Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) program is listed by Crain’s Chicago Business as the fifth largest in the Chicago area in 2012.
- TheBestColleges.orgranked Benedictine’s online Master of Public Health (M.P.H.) program among the top 20 in the nation for 2012.
- Benedictine University is ranked ninth among the Top 10 Online Catholic Colleges and Universities of 2011 by TheBestColleges.org.
- StateUniversity.com ranks Benedictine University as the safest four-year school in Illinois (third overall among all Illinois colleges and universities) based on a scale that accounts for the severity and frequency of on-campus crime in 2011.
- Benedictine University is listed as a 2012 “Military Friendly School” by G.I. Jobs, a veteran-owned publication focusing on post-military education and employment.
Mission
Benedictine University is dedicated to the education of undergraduate and graduate students from diverse ethnic, racial and religious backgrounds. As an academic community committed to liberal arts and professional education distinguished and guided by our Roman Catholic tradition and Benedictine heritage, we prepare our students for a lifetime as active, informed and responsible citizens and leaders in the world community.
Vision
Benedictine University is a Catholic University in the Benedictine Tradition that Provides a Values-Centered Liberal Arts Education Enriched by Our Excellence in Science.
History of Benedictine University
Benedictine University was founded in Chicago as St. Procopius College by the Benedictine monks of St. Procopius Abbey in 1887. It secured a charter from the state of Illinois in 1890. The College was founded to educate men of Czech and Slovak descent, and most students were of Czech ancestry in the early years.
In 1901 the College moved to the more congenial atmosphere of Lisle, in DuPage County. The first building, Benedictine Hall, was dedicated in September 1901. The building was completed by 1921 and new buildings began to be added after 1926. The College became coeducational in 1968 and was renamed Illinois Benedictine College in 1971. In response to community needs, graduate, doctorate and adult learner programs were added. The College became Benedictine University in 1996.
Benedictine University is situated on a rolling, tree-covered 108-acre campus of 10 major buildings with air-conditioned classrooms and modern, well-equipped laboratories. A comprehensive learning center with full media library and a modern and technically advanced science facility, filled with advanced laboratory space, digital classrooms and modern research equipment opened in Fall 2001. A student athletic center features three full-size basketball courts, a competition-size swimming pool, three tennis courts and training facilities. All of the residence halls are comfortable and spacious, and have access to the Internet. Other features include a scenic campus lake, a student center with dining halls, chapel, bookstore, meeting rooms and the Village of Lisle-Benedictine University Sports Complex providing top quality football, soccer, lacrosse, track, softball and baseball fields.
The Benedictine Order
The Benedictine Order bears the name of St. Benedict, born in 480, who is acknowledged as the father of Western monasticism. In 528 he established the famed monastery of Monte Cassino. In the Middle Ages, Benedictine monasteries expanded all over Europe, preserving ancient learning and written languages.
Benedictine University belongs to the Association of Benedictine Colleges and Universities, an organization that promotes the Benedictine traditions of education and hospitality.
Values
Benedictine University is grounded in the spirit of the founders who based their lives and work on St. Benedict’s Rule for Monks, written in the early sixth century. Benedictine University builds its educational life and efforts on the same values which Benedictine men and women espouse:
- a search for God by oneself and with others
- a tradition of hospitality
- an appreciation for living and working in community
- a concern for the development of each person
- an emphasis on a life lived in balance
- a dedication to responsible stewardship of the earth
- a commitment to academic excellence
Central to the Benedictine tradition is the celebration of community as a gathering of people who share a commitment to a common mission. The University strives to develop an academic community that supports each person in the pursuit of knowledge and personal development. This undertaking will be achieved through a life enriched by the collegiate community in which the individual’s interest is tempered by concern for the common good.
