Currents News Staff
A Catholic institution of higher learning is moving up a grade. St. Joseph’s College is now St. Joseph’s University, New York, thanks to a new state designation.
The university’s president, Donald Boomgaarden, says the new designation is part of the mission of the school’s founders – the Sisters of St. Joseph.
For those wondering about the difference, a college is often a smaller institution that emphasizes undergraduate education, while universities are typically larger institutions that have both undergrad and graduate programs.
The change will not impact the curriculum or the tuition at the school. So how does a college even become a university? St. Joseph’s had to submit a charter amendment to the New York State Department of Education and the Board of Regents.
The school has to reach these requirements: One, offer a range of registered undergrad and graduate curriculums in the liberal arts and sciences. Two, allow students to get degrees in two or more professional fields and three, have doctoral programs in at least three academic fields.