The College of Saint Scholastica

What The College of Saint Scholastica does

The College of Saint Scholastica is a private, nonprofit Benedictine Catholic higher education institution founded in 1892 and headquartered at 1200 Kenwood Avenue, Duluth, Minnesota, with secondary campuses in St. Cloud and a dedicated Health Science Center at Bluestone, plus a fully online campus. It serves individual student consumers across undergraduate, graduate, doctoral, transfer, online, and pre-college segments, with particular depth in healthcare programs (nursing, physician assistant, physical therapy) and Benedictine values-based liberal arts education. Note: firmographics list the founding year as 1912 while company history records 1892; the 1892 date is used here as it aligns with the more specific historical record.

Revenue is generated primarily through tuition and fees across a subscription-style recurring academic model, supplemented by administration of federal and state financial aid programs (Pell Grants, SEOG, Federal Direct Loans, Parent PLUS, Perkins Loans, work-study). Pricing is set per published undergraduate and graduate rate schedules, with a $300 refundable enrollment deposit and net price calculators for prospective freshmen and transfer undergraduates. Go-to-market is direct-to-consumer: prospective students are recruited through the css.edu website, campus visits, information sessions, online inquiry forms, and a broad social media footprint spanning Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.

The institution's technology stack is built on commodity SaaS rather than proprietary infrastructure. Core systems include Zoom Workplace (with SSO, cloud recording, breakout rooms, and Google Calendar integration) as the web conferencing platform, Google Workspace for Education (Gmail, Calendar, Drive) for productivity, Microsoft Authenticator for MFA, and the SOLAR library search and ScholastiCAT catalog systems for academic resources. AI usage is limited to monitored chatbot, SMS, and prerecorded voice outreach for prospective student communications. The institution operates under FERPA compliance and has published an Ethical Use of AI statement in 2025 governing AI use in teaching, learning, and research.

Name

The College of Saint Scholastica

Legal name

The College of St. Scholastica

Website

https://css.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

1892

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The College of Saint Scholastica is a private, nonprofit Benedictine Catholic college founded in 1892 in Duluth, Minnesota, offering undergraduate through doctoral programs on campus in Duluth and St. Cloud, online, and through a dedicated Health Science Center, with particular depth in healthcare education.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Higher Education

NAICS

Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (6113), Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (61131)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Faith-Affiliated Private Research Universities (EDAHABAJ)

Keywords

• Higher education
• Undergraduate degrees
• Graduate programs
• Doctoral programs
• Online learning

Headquarters

HQ city

Duluth

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Tuition and Fees: Revenue from undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral tuition and fees. The college offers financial aid including Federal Pell Grants, Federal Direct Loans, Minnesota State Grants, and institutional scholarships.
2. Financial Aid Services: Administering federal and state financial aid programs including Pell Grants, SEOG, Federal Direct Loans, Parent PLUS Loans, Perkins Loans, and work-study programs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

The College of Saint Scholastica is a private Catholic Benedictine institution that delivers undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degree programs across healthcare, liberal arts, and professional disciplines. Programs are offered through on-campus instruction at the Duluth main campus, St. Cloud campus, and Health Science Center at Bluestone, as well as through a fully online virtual campus. The college also administers federal and state financial aid programs and supports pre-college and transfer student pathways.

Product overview

The College of St. Scholastica is an educational institution offering degree programs across undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral levels. Its primary technology offerings are institutional tools for its community rather than commercial products. The institution provides Zoom Web Conferencing as its web conferencing platform for classes, meetings, and events, integrated with Google Workspace (Gmail, Calendar, Drive) for productivity and collaboration. AI-supported services include automated chatbot interactions for communication. The technology infrastructure follows FERPA compliance requirements for student data protection.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Undergraduate Degrees
• Graduate Degrees
• Doctoral Degrees
• Online Degrees
• Healthcare Programs
• Certificates and Licensures
• Pre-College Programs
• Center for Professional Training

Quantifiable outcome

• Graduates earn over $11,000 more early post-graduation than other Minnesota college graduates

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

AI capability2 records

Feature1 record

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Concordia University, St. Paul: Private Lutheran (LCMS-affiliated) university in St. Paul with a notably strong online campus alongside residential programs. Highly comparable for tuition dependency, faith-affiliated recruitment base, and online-degree growth strategy.
• Augsburg University: Private, faith-rooted (Lutheran/ELCA) university in Minneapolis with strong healthcare and pre-professional programs. Comparable to Saint Scholastica on private nonprofit status, urban Minnesota footprint, healthcare emphasis, and tuition positioning.
• Saint John's University: Benedictine men's college in Collegeville, MN, sharing the same monastic order (Saint John's Abbey) tradition as Saint Scholastica. Operates jointly with the College of Saint Benedict, offering directly comparable Catholic liberal-arts + healthcare + graduate programming in the same Minnesota market.
• Saint Mary's University of Minnesota: Christian (De La Salle) private university in Winona, MN with multiple campuses and a strong online/distance-learning footprint. Highly comparable to Saint Scholastica's multi-modality (residential + secondary campus + online) operating model in the same Minnesota private-college competitive set.
• Hamline University: Private Minnesota university (St. Paul) with graduate, law, and undergraduate programs. Closely comparable in size, private tuition tier, and urban-Anchor-region recruitment geography; frequently competes head-to-head with Saint Scholastica for the same Minnesota high-school applicant pool.
• St. Catherine University: Catholic women-founded university in St. Paul, MN with a deep healthcare and nursing portfolio that closely parallels Saint Scholastica's clinical programs. Comparable tuition tier, similar private-Catholic Minnesota positioning, and overlapping target student demographics.
• College of Saint Benedict: Sister Benedictine women's college in St. Joseph, MN with shared Catholic/Benedictine heritage, comparable size, similar healthcare program emphasis, and cross-registration with Saint John's University — directly comparable to Saint Scholastica's Benedictine identity and program mix.
• Bethel University: Christian (Baptist-affiliated) private university in St. Paul, MN. Comparable scale, graduate/healthcare program breadth, and residential-plus-online delivery model — directly competitive for the same Minnesota faith-comfortable prospective-student segment.

Regional players

• University of Minnesota Duluth: Public regional university sharing the same Duluth market and overlapping undergraduate recruitment pool. Functions as the principal public-sector substitute competing on price-elasticity for the same Northeastern Minnesota high-school graduates.

Broad incumbents

• University of St. Thomas: Larger Catholic-archdiocesan university in St. Paul, MN. Provides a like-for-like faith-based comparison across undergraduate, graduate, and healthcare professional programs, though it serves a broader portfolio including a business school and broader research footprint.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/stscholastica
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/SaintScholastica
• Facebookfacebook.com/12322996798
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-college-of-st.-scholastica
• Instagraminstagram.com/stscholastica
• TikToktiktok.com/@stscholastica

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The College of Saint Scholastica