Saint Johns University

Saint John's University traces its roots to 1857, when Benedictine monks from Bavaria founded Minnesota's first college on a sprawling 3,300-acre campus in rural Collegeville. You'll find a tight-knit community of about 1,600 undergraduate men who value discipline, faith, and outdoor pursuits, often gathering for prayer in the striking modernist abbey church designed by Marcel Breuer. The school's personality blends monastic contemplation with rugged independence—think early-morning hikes through forests and discussions in wood-paneled great halls. Students who thrive here embrace a slower pace, close relationships with monk-professors, and a curriculum infused with Catholic intellectual tradition. Those seeking urban buzz or large co-ed parties might feel isolated, given the remote setting two hours from Minneapolis and the all-male undergraduate dorms (though you share classes and social events with women from nearby College of Saint Benedict). Winters bring heavy snow and subzero temps, testing your resilience but rewarding with cross-country skiing on campus trails.