• In 2012, Benedictine College launched “Benedictine 2020: A Vision for Greatness” our plan to build one of the great Catholic colleges in America by focusing on academic excellence. Click here for more information.
• Benedictine College completed the largest capital campaign in its history; “Investing in Excellence.” The campaign brought the college 5,000 new donors, doubled the endowment, built Mary’s Grotto, built Ferrell Academic Center, and surpassed its $50 million goal, raising over $70 million.  
• U.S. News & World Report rates Benedictine College one of America’s Best. 
• The Cardinal Newman Society Guide lists the college as one of America’s Best Catholic Colleges. 
• First Things magazine named Benedictine College one of the top 20 universities in the country. 
• Colleges of Distinction Guidebook named Benedictine College a leader in educational excellence.
• Benedictine College was ranked first in its category for alumni giving by U.S. News & World Report. 
• Benedictine College launched a national Memorare Army prayer campaign gathering pledges for 2.8 million Memorare prayers for religious liberty from all 50 states and six countries.  
• The college’s alumni are recognized around the world for their contributions to society. Since 2000, alumni achievements include:
  • 98 pursued vocations to the priesthood or religious life. 
  • 13 bank presidents, including Tom Hoenig, former President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and a current director of the FDIC.
  • 7 university presidents, including presidents of Boise State and the University of Dallas.
  • 4 bishops, including Bishop John Brungardt of the Diocese of Dodge City, Kansas.
  • 3 U.S. leaders in Washington, D.C., including Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Terrance Gainer.
  • 2 Kansas Secretaries of Commerce, William Thornton and Patrick George.
  • 1 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, the late Wangari Maathai. 

…click here to find a full listing of notable alumni.

• Benedictine College’s enrollment has increased for 15 consecutive years. This year’s enrollment of over 1,700 full-time undergraduates, including 483 freshmen, triples its enrollment 20 years ago. 
• Over 80% of undergraduate students live on campus in the college’s strong residential tradition. 
• The college has opened nine new residence halls since the year 2000.
• Head football coach Larry Wilcox remains Kansas’ all-time winningest four-year college coach.
• Six varsity sports teams received NAIA Scholar Team recognition. Benedictine College student-athletes average a higher than 3.04 GPA.  
• Benedictine College’s student retention rate is consistently above 90%. 
• National surveys place Benedictine College Student Life highest in overall resident satisfaction, sense of community, and safety and security. 
• We started the Benedictine Raven Network and now stream Benedictine sports’ competitions over the internet for fans to watch nationwide.  
• Benedictine College added to its 12 varsity sports by starting a varsity wrestling team and a club lacrosse team.  

• In the last five years, 62 alumni have gone on to seminary or religious life.
• Since 2010, the college’s campus RCIA program has brought 40 students into the fullness of the Catholic faith.
• In 2012, 17% of the student body made the 1,100 mile trip to Washington’s March for Life.
• Hundreds of students travel for their faith to such places as the Bronx, New Orleans, Belize, the Dominican Republic, India, Iraq, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, the Philippines, and Sierra Leone.
• The Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) was founded on Benedictine College’s campus. Last year, about 650 students participated in FOCUS Bible studies and discipleships.
• The Hunger Coalition, which was founded here after Blessed Mother Teresa’s 1981 visit, signed up 411 students in its skip-a-meal program last year and served over 10,000 meals to the needy in Atchison.
• Two separate business student groups brought clean water to the needy. One group traveled to Honduras to help teach families how to install state-of-the art water filters in their homes, another drilled a water well for Africans in Sierra Leone. 
• We launched the Institute for Missionary Activity to train students to serve the needy and evangelize at home and abroad. It was featured in Our Sunday Visitor, the National Catholic Register, The Leaven, and the St. Joseph News Press.  

• Ferrell Academic Center opened in March, 2012.  This 57,000 square foot signature campus building is the first newly built LEED-certified higher education building in Kansas.   
• We expanded our Programs of Distinction by adding five Presidential Scholarships, a new Honor’s Program for academically gifted students and the Gregorian Fellows Leadership Program. 
• In our continuing focus on Real Results we launched a post-graduate preparation center to assist students who are interested in pursuing graduate school.  
• Benedictine College’s nursing program granted its first Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degrees in May 2012.  Every graduate passed the National Licensing Exam (the “nursing boards”) on their first try, and found employment in nursing less than six months after graduating—a rare distinction.
• Through a landmark agreement with the University of North Dakota, Benedictine College is now one of the few Catholic colleges in the nation offering an ABET-accredited program in Chemical, Civil, Electrical, and Mechanical Engineering. Benedictine’s first engineers graduated in May 2012.
• Benedictine College swept the HAAC Commissioner’s Academic Awards by receiving all four awards:  highest GPA for the women’s sports team; highest GPA for the men’s sports team; highest GPA for a female athlete (Elizabeth Stinson); and highest GPA for a male athlete (Brad Lorang). 
• The college offers students the opportunity to study abroad at its Florence, Italy, campus as well as making available other study abroad programs in 50 countries.  
• The Benedictine College School of Business publishes the Journal of International Business, which provides academic analysis and practical insights on the global marketplace. 
• Professors who published books in their respective fields in the past year include Philosophy professor Dr. James Madden, and Theologians Dr. Mark Zia and Dr. Matthew Ramage. Contributing chapters to books were Theologian Dr. Andrew Swafford and Education’s Dr. Matthew Ramsey.  
• This year, 33 professors ranked in the top 10% of the national IDEA faculty evaluations. 
• A record 275 high school students participated in the 2012 Presidential Scholarship Competition. 
• The freshman class entering in 2012 has the highest average ACT scores and grade point averages in the school’s history, and the largest number of National Merit Finalists.  
• Junior Ian O’Hagan was selected to attend an Intercollegiate Studies Institute seminar on the work of Russell Kirk. 
• Seniors David Maxwell and Peter Wostenberg were two of only 50 students nationwide chosen to participate in the distinguished Hertog Political Studies Program in Washington, D.C.