Saint Anselm College

Saint Anselm College is a nationally ranked, Catholic, Benedictine, liberal arts college in Goffstown, New Hampshire, United States. Founded in 1889 by Abbot Hilary Pfrängle, O.S.B. of Saint Mary's Abbey in Newark, New Jersey, at the request of Bishop Denis Mary Bradley of Manchester, New Hampshire, it is the third-oldest Catholic college in New England. Named for Saint Anselm of Canterbury (Archbishop of Canterbury from 1093 to 1109), the college continues to have a fully functioning and independent Benedictine abbey attached to it, Saint Anselm Abbey. As of 2015, its enrollment is approximately 2,000. Alumni Hall was built in 1892, and is well known as the center of campus According to the college, the student body is selected not only for their academic abilities but also for their personal character. The college's academic curriculum requires several philosophy and theology courses as well as the new "Conversatio" program. The administration's commitment to an anti-grade inflation policy helped the college receive national media attention from the Fox News Channel in 2006, as well as a Tier 1 ranking from U.S. News and World Report, which in 2016 ranked the college 112th among national liberal arts colleges, with an admissions rate that is deemed "selective" at 73.7%. U.S. News & World Report also ranked the college as the most popular New Hampshire venue for presidential candidates. Forbes magazine has ranked St. Anselm as the 85th best college in the nation, as well as the 40th in the Northeast. In 2015, Saint Anselm was recognized by Time magazine as one of the "50 Best Liberal Arts Colleges" in the nation.