Founded in 1937 by the Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi, Cardinal Stritch University is comprehensive and coeducational.
We serve students of all faiths and ages in four colleges: College of Arts and Sciences, College of Business and Management, College of Education and Leadership, and the Ruth S. Coleman College of Nursing.
With two regional campuses and several satellite offices, Stritch is Wisconsin's second-largest independent university. The Wisconsin Region's main campus is in suburban Milwaukee. The Minnesota Region is based in Edina, Minn. Classes also are held in convenient sites throughout Wisconsin and Minnesota. View a map of our Wisconsin and Minnesota classroom sites.
Stritch is one of the few Franciscan institutions in North America that grants a doctoral degree.
Stritch is led by the University president, Sister Mary Lea Schneider, OSF, Ph.D., and a Board of Trustees made up primarily of lay people.
Despite its overall size, Stritch is an intimate, dedicated community. Student/faculty ratio is 16 to 1.
Stritch faculty and staff are committed to the values of St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226): creating a caring community, sharing compassion for others, reverencing creation, and peacemaking.
Enrollment/Ethnic Makeup
The University's total enrollment for 2007-08 is about 6,994.
Stritch serves about 3,100 undergraduate students and about 3,800 graduate students.
About 25.3% of Stritch undergraduate students are ethnic minorities (African-American 19.9%, Hispanic 3.4%, Asian 1.3% and Native American 0.7%).
About 10.6% of Stritch graduate students are ethnic minorities (African-American 7.8%, Hispanic 1.6%, Asian .9%, Native American 0.3%).
Tuition
Tuition for 2007-08 is $18,624 a year, one of the lowest of the 20 independent colleges and universities in Wisconsin. About 82% of Stritch students benefit from scholarships, grants, work-study programs and loans.
On-campus housing is about $5,750 a year.
For more information, see Tuition and Fees.
Accreditation
Stritch is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and is a member of the North Central Association. The University also is accredited by:
- The Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs
- The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education
- The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction
- The National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission
- The Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education
- The Wisconsin State Board of Nursing
Faculty, Fields of Study
We have 98 full-time faculty members, including Fulbright and Rhodes Scholars. We also employ several hundred adjunct faculty, who remain practitioners in their fields and provide highly skilled instruction, primarily to adult students in the College of Business and Management.
Stritch offers more than 60 fields of study. Degrees offered:
- Associate of Arts
- Associate of Science
- Bachelor of Arts
- Bachelor of Fine Arts
- Bachelor of Music
- Bachelor of Science
- Master of Arts
- Master of Business Administration
- Master of Education
- Master of Music
- Master of Science
- Doctor of Education
- Doctor of Philosophy
More than 96% of Stritch students are in jobs within one year of graduation.
Library, Athletics
The Stritch Library has more than 139,000 holdings, lends laptop computers to students, and can access, online, materials at five other Wisconsin colleges.
Athletics plays an important role at Stritch, with 10 intercollegiate teams for men and women and numerous intramural leagues.
THE ARTS AT STRITCH
The arts are integral to a Stritch education, and our diverse offerings aim to entertain and inform the community as a whole.
Our talented theater students present four productions a year, from musicals to the classics. The work of contemporary and historical visual artists as well as Stritch students is exhibited in our Northwestern Mutual Art Gallery. Recitals, concerts and musicales are offered throughout the year in an array of musical genres.
The art gallery and all theater performances are in the Joan Steele Stein Center for Communication Studies/Fine Arts, which includes the lovely 400-seat Nancy Kendall Theater that is accessible to people with disabilities and has assisted-listening equipment for the hearing-impaired. On-campus parking is plentiful, well-lighted and free.
Musical offerings are in a variety of venues, including the Nancy Kendall Theater and Schroeder Auditorium.
Stritch is also proud to have been named Wisconsin's first “All-Steinway School” by Steinway & Sons. All-Steinway Schools demonstrate a commitment to excellence by providing their students and faculties with the best equipment possible for the study of music. As an All-Steinway School, every piano in Stritch’s music department is designed by Steinway & Sons.