Briar Cliff University

We are the Catholic, Franciscan learning place. Here, each person's dignity is appreciated and celebrated, providing a powerful sense of community and a place to pursue a private, liberal arts education that shapes more than your résumé — it shapes your character.

Briar Cliff University is a community committed to higher education within a liberal arts and Catholic perspective. In the Franciscan tradition of service, caring and openness to all, Briar Cliff emphasizes quality education for its students, combining a broad intellectual background with career development. The University challenges its members to grow in self-awareness and in their relationships to others and to God.

If you are a current high school student or graduate, a transfer student, an international student or a first-time freshman of any age, take the first steps to a distinguished higher education.

For professionals and those with bachelor's degrees looking to earn a graduate degree at Briar Cliff, take the next steps to advance and reach your full personal and professional potential.Finish your bachelor's degree online at the Briar Cliff University, without sacrificing your personal and professional responsibilities.

At Briar Cliff, we believe cost shouldn’t keep any future student from joining the BCU community. Our Office of Financial Aid will work with you and your family to create a financial aid package that will help you achieve — and afford — your dream.

Real life isn’t divided into academic disciplines. It’s a mixed bag of art and science and math and history and communication, all connected in a million different ways. At Briar Cliff, studying liberal arts along with your chosen field of study will prepare you for more than a career — it will prepare you for life.

Briar Cliff faculty are published authors, Fulbright Scholars, performers at Carnegie Hall and contributors to the Human Genome Project. But most importantly, they care about your success as a student. Our 12:1 student-to-faculty ratio also leads to lasting relationships. Look around campus, and you'll find students and professors teaming up on research, working side-by-side on service projects and even grabbing lunch together in the cafeteria.

Your diploma isn't the end of your Briar cliff experience. In fact, it's just the beginning. That's why 95 percent of Briar Cliff students are employed or attending a graduate school within six months of graduation.

The Honors Program at Briar Cliff creates a community for like-minded, motivated students to come together and share transformational experiences.

Learning has no boundaries. At Briar Cliff, it often takes place beyond the classroom: in the residence halls, with your friends, through student clubs, travel opportunities, intramurals, campus ministry, athletic teams, service projects — the list goes on.

Here, you’ll find biology majors performing with the Cliff Singers; art students competing on intramural sports teams, and self-declared “book nerds” crowd-surfing through the Blue Crew.

The Briar Cliff University campus has four residence halls with a housing capacity of 580 students. Each hall is staffed by an area coordinator and resident assistants (RAs) on each floor.Briar Cliff University believes that living on campus is a vital part of the college experience. The best college experience is one where the curriculum and the co-curriculum are seamlessly integrated. Given that the educational benefits of a residential education are many and well-documented.

Here at Briar Cliff, every first-year student belongs to a learning community. You’ll get to pick one as soon as you enroll at BCU. Each community has a different theme, but the same purpose: for you to find a group of friends and professors at Briar Cliff who are passionate about the same things as you.

You’ll take a few of the same classes, team up on a service project and adjust to college life together. So take a look — and think about which one is right for you.

In 1929, only briar patches covered a 175-foot hill located on the western outskirts of Sioux City, Iowa. But two people — Mother Mary Dominica Wieneke, Major Superior of the Sisters of Saint Francis of Dubuque, Iowa, and the Most Reverend Edmond Heelan, Bishop of the Sioux City Diocese — had a vision. They envisioned that hill crowned with a Catholic college for women.

Mother Dominica and Bishop Heelan met on March 9, 1929, with members of the Sioux City business community. These community leaders committed themselves to raising $25,000 to support the establishment of a college in Sioux City. On March 30, 1930, at the laying of the cornerstone for the first building, Heelan Hall, Bishop Heelan commented that, "the duty of education must not only prepare one for citizenship but also prepare one for eternity." This was truly the spirit of the education that the Sisters of Saint Francis brought to Sioux City.

The 12 foundresses of the College were carefully chosen byMother Dominica. They were led by Sister Mary Servatius Greenen, who was named the first president.

The College was dedicated on Sept. 18, 1930, and named Briar Cliff — after the hill on which it is located. Four days later, 25 women started classes in Heelan Hall, then the only building on campus.

Briar Cliff has been served throughout its history by dedicated and talented faculty, staff, and administrators.The University’s history is one of patience, perseverance, and unyielding commitment. It is an institution with a rich Catholic, Franciscan heritage and a strong tradition of service to the community.While the mission of the University has not changed in more than 80 years, Briar Cliff continues to grow and expand, always placing the needs of students first.