Mission
Xavier University of Louisiana, founded by Saint Katharine Drexel and the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, is Catholic and historically Black. The ultimate purpose of the University is to contribute to the promotion of a more just and humane society by preparing its students to assume roles of leadership and service in a global society. This preparation takes place in a diverse learning and teaching environment that incorporates all relevant educational means, including research and community service. [View a presentation made by Sr. Monica Loughlin, S.B.S. at the Board of Trustees Orientation, October 2008.]

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 (70%), 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 3,388 students are from Louisiana. The University’s pre-Hurricane Katrina (2005) enrollment was 4,100.
• Undergraduate students,  regardless of their major are required to complete sixty-six hours of liberal arts core curriculum courses in English, Literature, Fine Arts, Foreign Languages, History, African American Studies,  Mathematics, Natural Sciences, Philosophy, Theology, and Social Sciences in addition to courses in their major fields.  Xavier offers preparation in 46 major areas on the undergraduate, graduate, and professional degree levels. Currently, we offer 38 undergraduate majors, 7 graduate-level degree programs, and one professional degree in the College of Pharmacy.
• The University is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the American Council of Pharmaceutical Education, the National Association of Schools of Music, the Louisiana Department of Education, the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs, and the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). Xavier University is also approved by the American Chemical Society.
• 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 16 years. The 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 2009, some 540 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 20,000.