Saint Johns University

Private · Moderately Selective · MN

Photo: mjdemay (CC BY-SA 3.0)

School data & stats

TypePrivate

LocationMN · Midwest

SettingRural

Undergrads1,395

Student:faculty12:1

Outcomes

4-yr grad rate69.1%

6-yr grad rate75.4%

Drop-out rate14.2%

Study abroad—

Cost

In-state tuition$56k

Out-of-state tuition$56k

Application fee—

Community

Racial diversity24.2%

Gender diversity0%

International3.4%

IdentityRoman Catholic

Overview

Saint John's University is a Catholic Benedictine college for men in Collegeville, Minnesota, operating in full academic partnership with the College of Saint Benedict, the Benedictine women's college a few miles away — students at both schools share one integrated curriculum, faculty, and degree, attending classes across both campuses. The men's college sits on a wooded, lake-dotted campus anchored by Saint John's Abbey, home to one of the largest Benedictine monastic communities in the world, and the monks remain a visible, active presence in campus life rather than a historical footnote.

Academics

The Hill Museum & Manuscript Library, based at Saint John's, has spent decades digitizing endangered medieval and other manuscripts from libraries and monasteries worldwide, giving students and faculty access to a genuinely rare research resource for an undergraduate institution. Accounting and other pre-professional programs are particular strengths, feeding a strong track record into major accounting firms. The curriculum draws on a Benedictine tradition of contemplative, disciplined study, and the CSB/SJU partnership means class options span both campuses' faculty and offerings.

Campus & student life

The campus is built around lakes and hardwood forest, with Marcel Breuer's modernist abbey church — a striking concrete landmark very different from a traditional chapel — serving as the visual and spiritual center of campus. Division III football has a storied history here, built during coach John Gagliardi's decades-long tenure, one of the winningest in college football history at any level. Students move regularly between the SJU and CSB campuses for classes and social life, and monastic daily prayer remains part of campus rhythm even for non-Catholic students.

Getting in

Admission considers fit with Benedictine values and the small residential community as much as academic record, and the joint application with the College of Saint Benedict is a distinctive feature applicants should understand going in — a student applies into a shared program, not a standalone men's college.

After graduation

The accounting and business pipeline into major firms is well established, and the combined CSB/SJU alumni network is unusually close-knit and active for a school this size, particularly across the Upper Midwest.

Worth knowing

The men's-college-paired-with-women's-college structure, unique in American higher education, means prospective students should think of this as enrolling in one shared academic community across two campuses, not choosing between two separate schools.

csbsju.edu ↗

Admissions

Acceptance rate90.6%

Enrolled mid-50%SAT 941–1228 · ACT 21–27

Test policyoptional

Rec letters0

Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)

AdmissionRolling

Applying