Saint Martin’s University is an independent four-year, Catholic, coeducational university located on a 380-acre wooded campus in Lacey, Washington. Established in 1895 by the Catholic Order of Saint Benedict, the University is one of 18 Benedictine colleges and universities in the United States and Canada, and the only one west of the Rocky Mountains. Saint Martin’s University prepares students for successful lives through its 22 majors and 9 graduate programs spanning the liberal arts, science, mathematics, business, education, and engineering. Saint Martin’s welcomes 1,250 students from many ethnic and religious backgrounds to its main campus, and 650 more to its extension campuses located at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
Established in 1895, Saint Martin’s University is the educational mission of Saint Martin’s Abbey, a Catholic Benedictine monastery, whose members pray, work, and live together on the University campus. The physical beauty of Saint Martin’s 300-acre campus reflects the rich intellectual and spiritual nature of its presence in the Pacific Northwest.
Essential features of university life are animated by its Benedictine identity and its participation in the centuries-old traditions of Catholic intellectual thought and the search for truth.
Thus, the University honors students and guides them towards achieving academic excellence. Superior teaching is the expected norm. Rooted in the long tradition of the liberal arts, the university curriculum cultivates creativity and the ability to communicate and pursue ideas; critical thinking and independent inquiry; academic proficiency; the formation of sound ethical judgments; and service to humanity.
Reflecting the Benedictine virtue of hospitality, the University welcomes and, indeed, seeks students not only from the Pacific Northwest, but also from other parts of the nation and the world at its main and extension campuses. Saint Martin’s treasures persons of all ages, religions, and nationalities as it encourages cognizance of diverse viewpoints and an appreciation of all cultures.
Saint Martin’s University has been ranked among Money’s Best Value Colleges 2019. Money ranked Saint Martin’s as one of the top 50 most transformative colleges or universities in the nation, which means that the University’s graduates fare well in terms of employment and income mobility. Saint Martin’s is the only college or university in Washington listed on the most transformative colleges list. In addition, the University is one of the 28 small-sized (fewer than 2,500 students) Best Value Colleges on the West Coast, and ranked highest among small-sized colleges and universities in Washington.