Overview
Big Enough to Offer Endless Opportunities, Small Enough to Feel Like Home
The University of St. Thomas is a Catholic, comprehensive university that fosters a tradition of service to the public and an energetic, thoughtful approach to the challenges of contemporary life. Serving more than 10,500 undergraduate and graduate students, St. Thomas is a thriving academic community for the active mind.
Many students from around the country -- and even the world -- choose St. Thomas for its location, which provides many opportunities for work and for pleasure. Nestled in a charming residential neighborhood in Minnesota's vibrant Twin Cities area, students feel safe on St. Paul's picturesque campus. A free shuttle bus to the downtown Minneapolis campus lets students take advantage of great shopping, restaurants, and sporting and cultural events. Within minutes of the Minneapolis--St. Paul International Airport, the Amtrak train depot, and major freeways, St. Thomas is easily accessible from any location.
High-Quality Education
With an average class size of 21 and a 15:1 student-to-faculty ratio, St. Thomas is the perfect size to help faculty members and students collaborate on an array of projects. Students and faculty conduct research side by side to learn from each other while practicing real-world skills. With funding from Barry M. Goldwater Scholarships and Bush Foundation Grants, students roll up their sleeves and gain valuable experience.
Undergraduate degrees include the Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Music, and Bachelor of Science. Students can choose from more than ninety majors and sixty minors, as well as six pre-professional programs (dentistry, law, medicine, pharmacy, physical therapy, and veterinary medicine). The largest programs are those in business, biology, communication and journalism, psychology, and education.
In addition, students may choose a major area of concentration not offered at St. Thomas at any of the other four institutions in the Associated Colleges of the Twin Cities (ACTC), which are Augsburg College, Hamline University, Macalester College, and the College of St. Catherine.
Each year, more than 1,000 St. Thomas students study abroad on semester, yearlong, J-Term, or summer programs. A total of ninety programs are available in more than forty countries, spanning all seven continents. St. Thomas is ranked by the Institute of International Education in the top five nationally for the percent of undergraduates studying abroad (61.1 percent).
Motivated and curious students can deepen and enrich their education through the Aquinas Scholars Honors Program. Aquinas Scholars take a minimum of four honors sections of core curriculum courses and a minimum of three 2-credit interdisciplinary honors seminars. The latter are free of charge and often taken over J-Term, in the summer, or on top of regular classes during a semester. Retreats and outings are held for Aquinas Scholars throughout the year.
Having Fun, Making New Friends
Students can get involved outside the classroom in more than 100 clubs and organizations, including student government, student-produced media, and volunteerism. Groups range from the UST Ultimate Frisbee team and the Disc Golf Society, to a social justice club, a sailing club, pep band, the cheer team, and the dance team, among others. St. Thomas also has several faith-based organizations, including Campus Crusade for Christ, the Solid Rock (TSR), and the Muslim Student Association (MSA). Joining academic organizations can be a fun way to meet people in the same major, network, participate in academic events, and get advice from professionals in various fields.
Athletics are a strong part of the UST tradition. Whether students want to join a varsity team, compete on a club team, or just play for fun in an intramural (IM) league, UST's variety of athletic programs can meet every student's level of competition.
Varsity sports have been a part of the St. Thomas experience for more than 100 years, and St. Thomas teams consistently finish at the top of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC). Men and women can compete in basketball, cross-country, golf, ice hockey, soccer, swimming, tennis, and track and field (indoor and outdoor). Women's teams are softball and volleyball; men's teams are baseball and football.
Club teams -- like crew (rowing), lacrosse, sailing, and the Alpine Ski Team -- offer a chance to compete in a nontraditional sport against other colleges locally and nationally. Teams practice regularly, and both men and women may participate.
IM sports hold many different tournaments throughout the year. There are leagues for badminton, basketball, dodgeball, floor hockey, football, golf, kickball, racquetball, sand volleyball, soccer (co-ed), softball, squash, table tennis, tennis, volleyball (co-ed), and even Wiffleball.
