SXU Highlights

Chicago’s First Catholic University

Saint Xavier University was founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1846 and was the first Mercy institution of higher learning in the United States. It is Chicago’s oldest Catholic university.
Saint Xavier University is a mid-sized private university serving approximately 5,700 students at its campuses in Chicago, Orland Park and its Loop location.
Inspired by its Catholic identity and Mercy heritage, Saint Xavier University’s mission is to educate men and women to search for truth, to think critically, to communicate effectively, and to serve wisely and compassionately in support of human dignity and the common good.

The 2008 U.S. News & World Report recognizes SXU among the top private or public regional universities in the Midwest and in the top five in the state of Illinois.
Saint Xavier University offers 35 undergraduate majors; more than 40 graduate program options in arts and sciences, business, education and nursing; and a variety of program options in continuing and professional studies.
Saint Xavier University is the 10th largest private not-for-profit university in Illinois and in the top five Illinois institutions for enrollment growth since 1998.

Saint Xavier University is a leader in adopting cutting-edge assessment techniques, including the National Survey of Student Engagement, the Lumina Longitudinal Study, and the Collegiate Learning Assessment.
Saint Xavier University sends $110 million into the local economy every year.
Sixty-five to 70 percent of Saint Xavier University students are first-generation college students, a significantly larger proportion than at most other four-year colleges and universities, where approximately 50 to 55 percent are first-generation students (2006 Cooperative Institution Research Program).

At the graduate level, Saint Xavier University is the second largest provider of teachers in the state of Illinois. At the undergraduate level, Saint Xavier is one of the five largest providers in Illinois. In the metropolitan Chicago area, it is estimated that more than 174,000 school children a day are taught by a teacher from Saint Xavier University.
Statewide, less than half of new teachers make it to public classrooms. At Saint Xavier University, there are an estimated 4,000 graduates of the teacher education program with an average tenure of 12 years in the classroom. More than 80 percent of our baccalaureate recipients are teaching in Illinois public schools in the first year.
Saint Xavier University has one of the five largest schools of nursing in Illinois.
The Saint Xavier University Health Center, a nurse practitioner-staffed primary care facility, accommodated 4,500 patient visits last year. More than 50 percent of patients seen were community members from outside the University.

U.S.News & World Report ranks the Saint Xavier University student population among the 10 most diverse public and private colleges and universities in the Midwest and second in Illinois. More than one-third of undergraduate students come from under-represented ethnic backgrounds.
Between fall 2003 and spring 2005, Saint Xavier University ranked No. 1 in Illinois in the number of bachelor degrees in nursing earned by African-Americans and Hispanic nursing students.
U.S. News & World Report in 2007 lists Saint Xavier University as the 14th most diverse socioeconomic student body in the greater Midwest. More than one-third of undergraduates have a high financial need.
Saint Xavier University is committed to serving the needs of lower-income populations and, to that end, has a large population of students with financial need: 90 percent of our undergraduates and 25 percent of our graduate students receive financial assistance.

Six of Saint Xavier University’s 12 athletic teams qualified for the NAIA national tournament or their respective national playoffs, including football, men's basketball, women's basketball, baseball, men's cross country and men's track.
The Saint Xavier University football team, a young program of just 13 years, made it to the NAIA 2006 semi-finals.
Saint Xavier University had its first ever NAIA National Player of the Year winner with the 2006 NAIA Softball Player of the Year, Colleen Kilduff.
The Saint Xavier University’s women's basketball program earned a No. 3 national ranking for the 2006-2007 season, the highest team ranking in school history.