Cardinal Stritch University
Description
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.
Campuses and Commitment
With two regional campuses and several satellite offices, Stritch is the largest Franciscan institution of higher education in North America. The Wisconsin Region's main campus is in suburban Milwaukee. The Minnesota Region is based in Eden Prairie, Minn. Classes also are held in convenient sites throughout Wisconsin and Minnesota.
School/Higher Education Center history
Cardinal Stritch University was founded in 1937 by the Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi. Originally on Milwaukee's south side, the school offered teacher training for sisters only. Its original name was St. Clare College.
The institution was re-named in 1946 for Samuel Cardinal Stritch, a former archbishop of Milwaukee and a friend of the sisters. That year, lay women were admitted.
In 1956, a graduate division was established, with majors in special education and reading, to which men were admitted. The undergraduate division remained all-women until 1970.
In 1962, Stritch moved to its current location, just north of Milwaukee's city limits on 40 acres of land in the communities of Fox Point and Glendale. A nursing program was added in 1980.
In 1983, the Professional Inservice Bureau, forerunner of the Outreach Department, was created. It offered off-campus classes to educators wanting graduate studies. Courses are now offered throughout the Greater Milwaukee area, in Madison, and around the state of Wisconsin.
In 1997, Stritch moved to University status. The new name reflects the institution's distinct academic divisions, heterogeneous student body, and array of undergraduate and graduate programs. Academic divisions became Stritch's four colleges: Arts and Sciences, Business and Management, Education and Leadership, and the Ruth S. Coleman College of Nursing.
In 2006, the University began offering its first entirely online degree programs -- the Master of Education, in the College of Education and Leadership; and the Bachelor of Science in Public Safety Management, in the College of Business and Management.
In 2009, Stritch opened the City Center in the former Laboratory Building at The Brewery redevelopment project in downtown Milwaukee, establishing a major new university presence in the heart of the city.
