Mission

Xavier University of Louisiana is Catholic and historically Black. The ultimate purpose of the University is the promotion of a more just and humane society. To this end, Xavier prepares its students to assume roles of leadership and service in society. This preparation takes place in a pluralistic teaching and learning environment that incorporates all relevant educational means, including research and community service. Read More

Overview

• St. Katharine Drexel of Philadelphia and her Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, a religious community dedicated to the education of African Americans and Native Americans, established Xavier as a high school in 1915. The four-year college program was added in 1925. Today Xavier retains its distinction as the only historically Black, Catholic University in the Western Hemisphere.
• In 1970, the Sisters transferred control of the University to a joint lay/religious Board of Trustees. Dr. Norman C. Francis, himself a 1952 graduate, has served as president since 1968. He is the longest tenured college president in the United States.
• Xavier's student body is predominantly African American (76%), but the university is open to all. Recent years have seen a growing influx of out-of-state students, yet one-half of the university’s 3,000 students are from Louisiana. The University’s pre-Hurricane Katrina (2005) enrollment was 4,100.
• Xavier's curriculum is liberal arts oriented and requires all students to follow a core curriculum, but today more than half of its undergraduate students currently major in the natural or health sciences, with the most popular choices being biology, chemistry, business and pharmacy. Other preferred majors include mass communications, political science, and psychology and computer science. In all, Xavier offers training in some three dozen fields on the undergraduate, graduate, and professional degree level.
• The Department of Business has received accreditation from the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP). The Division of Education has received accreditation from National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE).
• According to the U.S. Department of Education, Xavier continues to rank first nationally in the number of African American students earning undergraduate degrees in both the biological/life sciences and the physical sciences. Xavier was one of only six schools chosen to participate in the National Science Foundation’s Model Institutions for Excellence in Science, Engineering and Mathematics program.
  
• Xavier has been especially successful in educating health professionals. The College of Pharmacy, one of only two pharmacy schools in Louisiana, is among the nation’s top three producers of African American Doctor of Pharmacy degree recipients
  
• In pre-medical education, Xavier ranks first in the nation in placing African American students into medical schools, where it has been ranked for the past 14 years. The 77% acceptance rate of Xavier graduates by medical schools is almost twice the national average, and 92% of those who enter medical schools complete their degree programs.
•  In 2007, some 521 degrees were awarded. Annually, more than 40 percent of XU graduates continue their education by attending graduate or professional school. Alumni ranks have grown to more than 18,000.