CSB: A College of Distinction

A Unique Learning Experience

The College of Saint Benedict designs programs to meet the needs and aspirations of young women, emphasizing women's leadership and a personal development profile that includes intellectual, spiritual, emotional and physical development.

Its values-based and value-added residential liberal arts education provides the framework for fulfilling lives of disciplined inquiry and leadership in careers devoted to the professions, public life and service to others.

Leadership

The Sister Nancy Hynes Women's Center works to empower women to engage in inclusive dialog, reflective thinking and ethical action that celebrates and recognizes women as shapers of our world.

Residential housing, based on year in school, emphasizes women's leadership with programming that nurtures the intellectual, spiritual, emotional and physical well-being of young women.  All first-year and sophomore students and approximately 80 percent of all students live on campus, creating a vibrant atmosphere for personal growth and discover.

Leadership in a diverse world begins here.  The Intercultural Center celebrates the diversity of campus life and fosters intercultural competency.

The Arts

(photo ©Albert Vecerka/Esto)

The award-winning Benedicta Arts Center of the College of Saint Benedict, one of the upper Midwest's most highly regarded cultural arts facilities, is home to a fine arts program that brings national and international artists to its stages and is active in commissioning new works of art that have their Midwestern premieres on the CSB campus.

The Literary Arts Institute is an expression of our deep and abiding commitment to the written word.  The institute sponsors visits by writers of national and international stature for lectures and residencies.

Athletics and Fitness

The CSB Blazers, competing on 12 varsity sports teams at the NCAA Division III level, regularly place among the top teams in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC).  Since the 2000-01 season, the Blazers have placed fourth or better in the race for the Pat Wisner Trophy, awarded to the top overal sports program in the conference.

Blazer basketball has won the MIAC championship five times in recent years and has made 15 NCAA Division III tournament appearances.

CSB students also participate in intramural leagues and on club sports teams.  Comprehensive fitness facilities were recently upgraded and expanded to meet the needs of students actively seeking a healthier lifestyle.

Going Places & the Results

CSB's annual retention rates are among the highest in the country with 90 percent of first-year-students returning for their sophomore year.  CSB students have an 80 percent degree completion rate within six years, compared to a 65.1 percent rate of all four-year private college students and 53 percent of four-year public college students.

Approximately 18 percent of CSB graduates go directly to graduate school, while 79 percent find career-related positions or enter service work.