USF History

The University of St. Francis was established in 1920 by the Congregation of the Third Order of St. Francis of Mary Immaculate for the education of its own members.

• In 1925, under the title Assisi Junior College, its doors opened to women outside the congregation.
• In the fall term of 1930, a senior college curriculum was established and a new name, the College of St. Francis was adopted.
• In 1971, the college became coeducational, and the first off-campus degree programs began in fall of 1972.
• In 1980, a master’s program in health services administration was offered followed in the early ’90′s by several more graduate offerings.
• In 1997, the College affiliated with Saint Joseph College of Nursing, which had been first, a diploma nursing school founded in 1920, and since 1987, a baccalaureate institution that awarded the Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree.
• The Board of Trustees of the College of St. Francis voted in May of 1997 to move to university status.
• Jan. 1, 1998, the institution became the University of St. Francis.