About SBU

Providing an extraordinary education for more than 150 years

Founded  in 1858, St. Bonaventure University is located on 500 acres in southwestern New York state. We prepare our students for a good journey through life and for their professional careers by beginning their studies with a strong liberal arts curriculum.

We require all of our students to take 40 percent of their total credits in core liberal arts courses: literature, history, philosophy, classics, art and the fundamental sciences. We offer 43 undergraduate majors, the most popular of which are elementary education, journalism, psychology, accounting, marketing, finance and management.

Our total undergraduate enrollment is 2,000. Our class sizes are small. Virtually all of our freshman class and most of our other undergraduates live on campus. We are a community.

The University is the home of the Franciscan Institute, which is the center for research in the history, philosophy, and accomplishments of a remarkable group of men and women, who for 800 years have dedicated themselves to peace, justice, social equality and alleviation of suffering of everyone in the human family. We believe in the universality of these Franciscan values.

A group of dedicated Franciscan friars live on campus, but our faculty includes lay people of diverse backgrounds. More than 80 percent of our faculty have a Ph.D. or equivalent. We are open to all students, without regard to religion, race, color, creed or economic background. More than 90 percent of our students receive financial aid.

We encourage independent study, critical analysis and original expression. Our graduates will make their way in one world in which a well-educated person knows that a portion of everyone's time, energy and devotion should be directed to those who are less fortunate. This is the spirit that makes St. Bonaventure a special place of learning.

We are proud to be the flagship Franciscan university. We invite you to share our tradition.