University of St. Thomas

The University of St. Thomas, a coeducational Catholic university in the Montrose area of Houston, was founded in 1947 by the Basilian Fathers, a congregation of priests devoted to teaching. The university was established at the request of the bishop of Galveston-Houston, Christopher E. Byrne, and opened on September 22, 1947, with a freshman class of forty students and a faculty of eight. It now has an undergraduate enrollment of about 1,864 and a graduate enrollment of more than 1,373, with a full-time faculty of 154. UST offers an undergraduate liberal arts curriculum of thirty-six programs with an emphasis on Judeo-Christian values and a course of study in which theology and philosophy are of prime importance. There are seventeen graduate degree programs at the masters level, and three doctoral degrees; one Ph.D. program in philosophy, an Ed.D. in ethical leadership, and DNP in nursing. More than half of the student body is Catholic, but the university is open to all religious faiths.

The university added a School of Theology in 1968, with a program leading to the master of divinity degree for students at St. Mary's Seminary. A master of religious education degree was added in 1969, followed by a master of arts in theology in 1982. In 1978 the School of Education, with a program leading to the M.Ed. degree, was added, and in 1979 the Cameron School of Business, offering an M.B.A. degree, was established. A Center for Thomistic Studies, with M.A. and Ph.D. programs in philosophy, was founded in 1979, and a Center for International Studies was begun in 1981. A Master in Liberal Arts program began in 1988.