Joshua Bennett
The University of San Francisco (USF) is a private Jesuit university in San Francisco, California, founded in 1855. USF is a Catholic university with a strong Jesuit tradition, but it is not exclusively for Catholic students. The university welcomes students from all faiths and spiritual backgrounds, offering programs and courses that cater to diverse beliefs and religions. While Catholicism influences USF's values and mission, it is not a mandatory area of study, and the university encourages exploration and engagement with different faiths.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Type of institution | Private |
| Religious affiliation | Jesuit Catholic |
| Year founded | 1855 |
| Founder | Father Anthony Maraschi |
| Campus size | 55 acres |
| Number of students | Nearly 9,000 |
| Number of degree programs | 59 |
| Number of clubs and organizations | Over 100 |
| Student body religious composition | Less than half Catholic |
| Religious study requirements | Theology and religious studies are part of the core curriculum, but Catholicism is not required |
| Social service requirements | Community engaged learning courses are part of the undergraduate curriculum |
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What You'll Learn
The University of San Francisco is a private Jesuit university
The University of San Francisco (USF) is a private Jesuit university in San Francisco, California, United States. Founded in 1855, it has nearly 9,000 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees in 59 major programs. The university's main campus, known as "The Hilltop," is 55 acres and is divided into the Lone Mountain and lower campuses, which are north and south of Turk Street, respectively. USF also has satellite campuses in downtown San Francisco, Orange County, Sacramento, San Jose, and Santa Rosa.
USF was founded by the Jesuits in 1855 as St. Ignatius Academy, a one-room schoolhouse along Market Street in what later became downtown San Francisco. Father Anthony Maraschi was the college's founder and first president and also served as a professor and the college treasurer. Under Maraschi, St. Ignatius Academy received its charter to issue college degrees in 1859. USF has been fully coeducational since 1964, although women had started attending evening programs in business and law as early as 1927.
As a Jesuit university, USF is committed to equipping and inspiring students to explore, engage, and improve the world. This includes nurturing the whole person (mind, body, and spirit) and building a more humane and just world. While USF has a Catholic tradition, less than half of its undergraduate student body is Catholic, and the university welcomes people from all faiths or no religious affiliation. USF's theology and religious studies requirement, an essential part of the core curriculum, covers various religions and explores how religions, spirituality, and people intersect.
USF values cura personalis, being people for others, and diversity in all its forms. The university seeks to nurture a diverse community where persons of all races, ethnicities, religions, sexual orientations, genders, generations, abilities, nationalities, occupations, and socioeconomic backgrounds are honoured and accompanied. USF also emphasizes social service and community engagement, with a community-engaged learning requirement in its undergraduate curriculum.
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Less than half of USF's undergraduate students are Catholic
The University of San Francisco (USF) is a private Jesuit university in San Francisco, California, founded in 1855. USF has nearly 9,000 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees in 59 major programs. The university's main campus, known as "The Hilltop," is 55 acres and is divided into the Lone Mountain and lower campuses, which are north and south of Turk Street, respectively.
While USF has a Jesuit Catholic character, less than half of its undergraduate students are Catholic. The rest of the students identify as Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, Protestant, or have no religious affiliation. USF values diversity in all its forms—cultural, political, and spiritual—and welcomes students from all faiths or no religious affiliations.
As a Jesuit university, USF is dedicated to equipping and inspiring its students to explore, engage, and improve the world. It encourages students to respect everyone, serve others, and nurture the whole person (mind, body, and spirit). USF's theology and religious studies requirement, an essential part of its core curriculum, allows students to learn about various religions and explore how religions, spirituality, and people intersect. The university also offers programs and retreats that support students' spiritual journeys, regardless of their religious affiliation.
The St. Ignatius Institute (SII) at USF is a living-learning community that focuses on the past, present, and future of the Jesuit Catholic tradition in the wider world. SII combines rigorous academic coursework in the humanities with extracurricular programming in community service and spirituality. While SII students engage with the wider world through off-campus service projects and immersion trips, they also take many of their classes in common and live together in a designated residential hall on campus.
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USF's core curriculum includes theology and religious studies
The University of San Francisco (USF) is a private Jesuit university in San Francisco, California, founded in 1855. USF's core curriculum includes theology and religious studies, but students are not required to study Catholicism. In these courses, students learn about various religions and explore how religions, spirituality, and people intersect. USF's theology and religious studies curriculum is diverse, covering topics such as gender and sexuality, race, nonviolence, grace, forgiveness, migration, climate, ethics, friendship, and human rights across different parts of the world.
The university values three key principles: cura personalis, being people for others, and diversity in all its forms. USF's mission is to empower and hold accountable its students, faculty, staff, and community partners to create a more humane and just world. This includes promoting equity and diversity and addressing social needs through community engagement. USF's core curriculum reflects these values by encouraging students to explore their passions, question complex ideas, and challenge their values and traditions.
As a Jesuit university, USF is committed to nurturing the whole person—mind, body, and spirit. While USF has a Catholic character, less than half of its undergraduate students are Catholic. The university welcomes individuals from all faiths or no religious affiliation and offers programs that bring people together across different beliefs. Mass is available but not mandatory.
Through its core curriculum, USF provides a well-rounded education that equips students with critical thinking skills and a global perspective. Students are encouraged to engage with the world, exploring social issues and serving their communities. USF's unique approach to education fosters a community that values intellectual pursuits, spiritual exploration, and social responsibility.
Overall, USF's core curriculum, including theology and religious studies, aligns with the university's Jesuit roots and mission to educate and inspire students to positively impact the world. By offering a diverse curriculum that explores various religions and their intersection with society, USF prepares its students to engage with and contribute to a diverse and ever-changing global community.
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USF's mission and values
The University of San Francisco (USF) is a private Jesuit university in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1855 as St. Ignatius Academy by Jesuits and has been dedicated to offering a daring and dynamic liberal arts education in the Jesuit, Catholic tradition. USF's mission is to change the world for the better.
USF's core values include cura personalis, being people for others, and diversity in all its forms—cultural, political, and spiritual. The university is committed to educating hearts and minds to cultivate the full, integral development of each person and all persons. USF values lifelong learning as a humanizing and liberating social activity and pursues excellence in teaching, scholarship, creative expression, and service. The university strives to engage with and contribute to the cultural, intellectual, economic, and spiritual gifts and talents of the San Francisco Bay Area and the global communities to which it belongs.
USF is a diverse community that welcomes people of all faiths and none. While it is a Catholic university, USF does not require students to study Catholicism or attend mass. The theology and religious studies component of the core curriculum explores various religions and how they intersect with spirituality and people. It also examines how religion can serve social justice and work for the good of humanity and the environment.
The university is committed to social service and empowering its students, faculty, staff, and community partners to address inequities and create a more humane and just world. USF values community engagement and requires students to participate in community-engaged learning courses that address social needs locally and globally. The university also encourages students to join living-learning communities, such as the St. Ignatius Institute, to explore social issues in a deeper and more connected way.
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The St. Ignatius Institute at USF
The St. Ignatius Institute (SII) is an undergraduate program at the University of San Francisco (USF). It is the oldest living-learning community on campus, and students are engaged as whole persons for all four years of their undergraduate careers. The program combines rigorous academic coursework in the humanities with extracurricular programming in community, service, and spirituality.
SII students take many classes in common and most live together in a designated residence hall on campus. The curriculum integrates the study of perennial questions of humanity with engagement with the challenging realities of the world. For instance, in their first semester, freshmen read works by ancient Greeks and Semites, including Homer, Aristophanes, Sappho, and the Epic of Gilgamesh. The SII also draws upon and emphasizes Roman Catholic contributions to the Western tradition, as represented by Catholic authors such as St. Augustine, Dante, and more recent Catholic thinkers like G. K. Chesterton.
The SII is open to all students, regardless of religious affiliation. Students tend to be interested in deeper questions about the meaning of life and explore spirituality in the Jesuit tradition. The program has generated both controversy and accolades due to its greater advocacy for Catholic doctrine within a diverse, more liberal Jesuit institution. In 2001, USF revamped the SII when the new university president, Jesuit Fr. Stephen A. Privett, dismissed Director John Galten and Associate Director John Hamlon, citing cost savings and their lack of qualifications to head an academic program. Most of the SII's faculty resigned in protest, and the affair received national media coverage.
The SII has since changed into a less dogmatic living-learning community, with Catholic doctrine playing a smaller part in its curriculum. The current SII bears little resemblance to the original program.
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Frequently asked questions
Yes, the University of San Francisco (USF) is a Jesuit Catholic university. However, less than half of its undergraduate students are Catholic, and the study of Catholicism is not required.
While the University of San Francisco is a Catholic university, less than half of its undergraduate students are Catholic. The rest of the students identify as Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, Protestant, or have no religious affiliation.
No, mass is available but not required. The University of San Francisco supports students on a spiritual journey, as well as those who are not.
The theology and religious studies requirement is an essential part of the core curriculum at the University of San Francisco. Students learn about various religions, explore how religions, spirituality, and people intersect, and discover how religion can serve social justice and work for the good of humanity and the environment.
The St. Ignatius Institute (SII) is the oldest living-learning community at the University of San Francisco. It focuses on the Jesuit Catholic tradition in the wider world, combining rigorous academic coursework in the humanities with extracurricular programming in community, service, and spirituality.
