Saint Leo University

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**Saint Leo University**

Established	1889
Type	private, Roman Catholic coeducational liberal arts
Endowment	$10,762,161
President	Dr. Arthur F. Kirk, Jr.
Location	Saint Leo, Florida, USA
Campus	Rural
Affiliations	Catholic Church Holy Name Monastery Saint Leo Abbey
Website	www.saintleo.edu

Saint Leo University is a private, non-profit, Roman Catholic university located in Saint Leo, Florida, next to San Antonio, Florida, which is north of Tampa. Dr. Arthur F. Kirk, Jr. has been the president of the university since January 1997. It is associated with the Holy Name Monastery (Benedictine sisters; formerly known as Holy Name Priory), and Saint Leo Abbey (Benedictine monks).

[edit] History

A Roman Catholic University, it was founded by the Benedictine Order in 1883. In 1889 received its Charter by the State of Florida. The University was opened by the order of Pope Leo XIII, to ensure that students in Florida and the southeast could obtain a traditional European/Roman Catholic education.

From 1890 to 1920, the college's curriculum was geared towards the acquisition of a Master of Accounts degree. In 1921, the focus of the college shifted to that of a college preparatory institution, the name changing to Saint Leo College Preparatory School in 1929.

In 1959, Saint Leo College was reopened, offering associates degrees in various fields with four-year bachelor's degree programs soon added. The first bachelor's degrees were awarded in 1967. In 1973, small campuses were added to U.S. military bases across the country. The main campus continued to offer a small liberal arts college atmosphere. By 1999, when its name was officially changed to Saint Leo University, it had become, according to its Web site, "the sixth largest provider of higher education to military-related personnel in the United States."

The university, which is one of the nation's largest and oldest Catholic institutions of higher learning offers Associate, Bachelor and Masters degrees in the Liberal Arts, Natural Sciences, Classics, as well as Pre-Professional (Medicine and Law).

Saint Leo has a large online program offering a wide range of degrees. It is one of the largest educators of the United States Military.

Saint Leo's main campus is in a rural setting, but is not far from large cities such as Tampa, St. Petersburg and Orlando. It offers small class sizes taught by faculty members: it employs no teaching assistants.

[edit] Alumni

Among the students who have attended Saint Leo University or one of its antecedents are actors Desi Arnaz and Lee Marvin, singer Stephen Stills, major league pitchers Red Barrett and Bob Tewksbury and Nicaraguan president Anastasio Somoza Debayle.