St. Bonaventure University - Overview
A Franciscan Tradition of Serious Scholarship
St. Bonaventure University, a Catholic institution founded in 1858, is dedicated to educational excellence rooted in the Franciscan tradition, believing that man is given an intellect to understand humanity and a heart to serve it.
St. Bonaventure treats students as individuals and believes their innate gifts are cultivated through mentorship and common cause. SBU's faculty of diverse lay educators includes a number of Franciscan friars living on site to provide valuable and ongoing mentorship, counseling, and academic support.
In accord with its Franciscan heritage, which emphasizes the importance of each person's unique gifts and contributions to the community, the university encourages students to demonstrate their common values through lives of study and service and welcomes students irrespective of religion, creed, color, race, or socioeconomic status.
Small Classes Taught by Scholar-Mentors
With nearly all freshman students and most other undergraduates living on the campus, St. Bonaventure is a close-knit educational community. Small classes are taught by faculty members drawn from diverse lay backgrounds, as well as by the resident Franciscan friars. Over 80 percent of SBU's teachers have a Ph.D. degree or its equivalent.
Instructors take the role of scholar-mentor seriously, making St. Bonaventure a "special place of learning," a place that will not merely educate, but enlighten and empower students to lives of both personal fulfillment and service to others.
Wide Range of Programs and Majors
There are more than 50 undergraduate majors and programs in St. Bonaventure's Schools of Arts and Sciences, Business, Education, Journalism/Mass Communication, and Franciscan Studies. These programs include pre-health dual admissions.
All undergraduates at St. Bonaventure take core liberal arts courses of history, literature, classics, art, philosophy, and the fundamental sciences. The university offers a wide range of undergraduate majors, with journalism, business, psychology, elementary education, history and English being the most popular choices.
The Bachelor of Arts is available in art, art history, classical languages, English, gerontology, history, interdisciplinary studies, international studies, journalism and mass communication, modern languages (French and Spanish), music, philosophy, political science, psychology, social sciences, sociology, theater, theology, and women's studies.
Students can also pursue a Bachelor of Science with majors in biochemistry, bioinformatics, biology, chemistry, childhood studies, computer science, early childhood education, economics, elementary/special education (dual certification), environmental science, interdisciplinary studies, mathematics, physical education, physics, psychology, and sport studies.
For those on a business path, the Bachelor of Business Administration is offered with majors in accounting, finance, management sciences, and marketing.
Dual-Admission, Dual-Degree Programs for Healthcare Degrees
St. Bonaventure offers dual-admission, dual-degree programs for first-time SBU freshmen who want to pursue careers in medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, and physical therapy. These programs are offered by SBU in concert with George Washington University School of Medicine, SUNY-Upstate College of Medicine, University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine, and Daemen College. Early assurance programs for sophomores are in place with SUNY-Upstate and GW.
The benefit of SBU's dual-admissions, dual-degree program is that it enables high school students to apply one time, to St. Bonaventure, and be assured of acceptance at the second institution after completing their bachelor's degree at SBU. Students completing the program receive their bachelor's degree from St. Bonaventure, and then move on to one of the partner schools to receive their advanced degree.
Career Counseling and Clinical Experience Programs for Pre-Health Students
For pre-health students desiring more traditional routes into the medical field, St. Bonaventure provides first-rate academic preparation for professional school entrance exams. SBU has special pre-health advisers and comprehensive career counseling. Pre-health students pursuing this traditional academic path can partake of the same clinical experience programs and targeted service activities that are available to SBU dual admission students.
Honors Program with Seminars, Research Opportunities, and Social Events
St. Bonaventure invites only the most qualified students into the University Honors Program. Students must have a combined SAT score of 1200, a high school average of 90 or above, and a minimum 3.25 GPA at SBU. To remain active in the Honors Program, students must take at least one honors class each year.
Scholastic benefits of the Honors Program include intimate seminar-style classes, one-on-one interaction with faculty mentors and peers, and unique research offerings. Museum visits, concerts, plays, and other special events held specifically for students in the Honors Program help promote camaraderie and fellowship.
Where is St. Bonaventure?
SBU is located in the southwest corner of New York state. The campus -- 500 acres with 31 academic and support buildings and residence halls -- is approximately 90 minutes south of Buffalo, N.Y., and east of Erie, Pa..
The small-town nature of SBU and its locale is balanced by the "big city" resources and opportunities in both Buffalo and Erie, where students can find any recreational, cultural, or entertainment offerings not available on campus. Buffalo in particular has a longtime relationship with SBU, and many students come from that area.
Big-time Athletics in the Atlantic 10 Conference
SBU's sports teams, the Bonnies, play NCAA Division I sports in the Atlantic 10 Conference. St. Bonaventure's basketball teams play their home games on Bob Lanier Court in the 5,700-seat Reilly Center Arena, and the raucous SBU crowd prompted ESPN to call the Reilly Center one of the "Worst Places to Play" in the country for opposing teams.
St. Bonaventure offers 14 varsity athletic programs. The men's basketball team made the NCAA Final Four in 1970, won an NIT Championship in 1977, and most recently appeared in the NCAA Tournament in 2000. The women's basketball team captured WNIT bids in 2009 and 2010 following 23-win seasons. The school's other successful athletic programs include the men's and women's swimming and diving teams, men's tennis, women's lacrosse, baseball and men's and women's soccer.
Financial Aid Resources Far Outpace National Averages
More than 90 percent of SBU students receive some sort of financial aid, as opposed to the estimated 65-70 percent nationally. SBU students receive some $20 million in annual scholarships and grants, with $1.1 million coming from endowed and annual scholarships.