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Former name | Augustana College and Seminary (1860–1918) Augustana College and Normal School (1918–1926) Augustana College (1926–2015) |
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| Motto | Verbum Dei manet in aeternum |
Motto in English | The Word of God endures forever |
| Type | Private university |
| Established | 1860; 165 years ago (1860)[1] |
Religious affiliation | Evangelical Lutheran Church in America |
| Endowment | $200+ million (2022)[2] |
| President | Stephanie Herseth Sandlin[3] |
Academic staff | 134[4] |
| Students | 2,390[5] |
| Undergraduates | 2,003[6] |
| Postgraduates | 387[7] |
| Location | ,, United States 43°31′36.7″N96°44′13.3″W / 43.526861°N 96.737028°W /43.526861; -96.737028 |
| Campus | Urban 100 acres (40 ha) |
| Colors | Navy blue andgold |
| Nickname | Vikings |
Sporting affiliations | NCAA Division II –NSIC |
| Mascot | Ole the Viking |
| Website | www.augie.edu |
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Augustana University is aprivateLutheran university inSioux Falls, South Dakota. The university identifies 1860 as the year of its founding, the same as itsRock Island, Illinois, Swedish-heritage sister school,Augustana College. It derives its name from theConfessio Augustana, orAugsburg Confession, a foundational document ofLutheranism. Until September 2015, the university was known as Augustana College.
Augustana is South Dakota's largest private university[8] and offers more than 100 majors, minors, and pre-professional and graduate programs.
Augustana traces its origin to 1835 when Scandinavian immigrants established the Hillsboro Academy inHillsboro, Illinois. In 1846, the academy became the Literary and Theological Institute of the Lutheran Church of the Far West before moving toSpringfield, Illinois, under the nameIllinois State University. In 1860, after church leaders formed theScandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod, ProfessorLars Paul Esbjörn and a group of followers moved toChicago to create their institution. There they established the Augustana College and Seminary, marking the date that the university identifies as the year of its founding.[1]
As the United States expanded westward during and after theAmerican Civil War, pioneers moved the school toPaxton, Illinois, in 1863. There, a split occurred: theNorwegian leadership, desiring to create their school, relocated toMarshall, Wisconsin, in 1869,[9] while theSwedes later moved toRock Island, Illinois, establishingAugustana College (Illinois). The school at Marshall moved toBeloit, Iowa, in 1881, and then toCanton, South Dakota, in 1888.[1]
The Lutheran Normal School opened in 1889 in Sioux Falls, housed in what is now known as Old Main, to educate teachers. City and business leaders lobbied for Augustana to relocate to Sioux Falls, and church leaders in 1918 merged the Lutheran Normal School and Augustana College in Canton under the name Augustana College and Normal School.[1] In 1926, "and Normal School" was dropped from the name and the Canton site eventually becameAugustana Academy.[1] Despite the similarities in name, the academy was no longer affiliated with the college, and closed in 1971.[1] The 2010–11 academic year marked Augustana University's sesquicentennial.[10]
Augustana draws its name from the origin of the Lutheran Church in theAugsburg Confession, written in 1530 during the ProtestantReformation. "Augustana" stems from the document's Latin name,Confessio Augustana.[1] On August 21, 2015, the school announced that it would change its name from Augustana College to Augustana University as of September 1, 2015.[11]
Augustana University offers more than 100 majors, minors, and pre-professional and graduate programs.[12][13] The top majors declared by Augustana students include nursing, biology, business administration, psychology, exercise science, finance, elementary education, computer science, accounting and marketing.[14]
The university'scurriculum is based on a calendar divided into two 15-weeksemesters, separated by an interim period of four weeks during January, as well as an optional summer term of eight weeks. Classes and study-away programs are offered during January. The school has a 12:1 student-to-faculty ratio.[15]
Extensive internship, study abroad, undergraduate research and Civitas, the university's honors program, supplement Augustana's curriculum. Between 2007 and 2008, 285 students participated in an international educational experience, and 44% of students studied abroad before graduation.[16]
In 2023, Augustana'sfinancial endowment surpassed $115 million.[17] Donations have allowed the school to expand its academic facilities, such as the renovation of the Mikkelsen Library, 2015 reconstruction of the Froiland Science Complex (formerly Gilbert Science Center), 2022 addition of Ralph H. Wagoner Hall,[18] 2023 addition of Midco Arena,[19] and ongoing construction of the Morrison Commons.[20]
As of 2016[update], Augustana's student body consisted of 1,825 undergraduates,[21] 99% full-time students and 1% part-time, and 59% female.[21] The acceptance rate is 61%.[22][23]U.S. News & World Report classified Augustana as a "more selective" school,[24] with 62% of the students enrolled having graduated fromhigh school in the top quartile of their class,[16] the averageGPA being 3.7.[22]ACT test score submissions had a 23–28 middle 50% range,[22] with an average ACT composite score of 26.[25] The school's retention rate of freshmen returning as sophomores was 80% between 2013 and 2014.[26]
Those enrolled are primarily from South Dakota (42%) and Minnesota (34%), followed by Iowa (12%) and Nebraska (4%).[27][28] In the fall of the 2010–11 academic year, Augustana reported its largest ever incoming class of international students. Fifty-four new students, representing 20 countries and five continents, joined 25 continuing international students for a total of 79 international students from 23 countries, making up about 4.5% of the student body.[29] Although only 46% of students claim a preference for the school'sLutheran religious affiliation, the school is nevertheless composed primarily of students following aChristian denomination, withCatholicism the second largest at 21%; 22% of students are categorized as "other".[16]
In the 2015U.S. News & World Report ranking of Midwestern colleges, Augustana placed third.[24] The publication also named it a "Best Buy" school, a designation based on academic quality in relation to cost. The Princeton Review named Augustana one of 159 "Best in the Midwest" schools in 2015.[22] In 2017,Forbes's list of "America's Top Colleges" placed Augustana 97th among schools in the Midwest and 423rd overall.[21]
Augustana created the Center for Western Studies in 1970,[9] founded by professorHerbert Krause,[30] which serves as a library, repository for special collections of art and artifacts, and academic publisher.[31] The center holds an annual Dakota Conference on the Northern Plains for history, literature, art, and archaeology. It is "the largest annual humanities conference specifically about the Northern Plains".[32] In addition to shows and galleries of Western, Scandinavian, and Native American art,[33] the Center also hosts the Boe Forum on Public Affairs,[32] which has featured speakers such asPervez Musharraf,Sandra Day O'Connor, andMikhail Gorbachev.[34]
The Augustana Choir and Concert Band tour widely nationally and internationally, including toChina,[35]Italy,[36] andTanzania.[37] While on tour inEgypt during theRevolution of 2011, the band was briefly stranded inCairo due to anti-government protests.[38]
The Augustana University Theatre Company presents 4 main-stage shows each year, one of which is amusical, as well as 2 student-produced shows by the Augustana Collaborative Theatrical Society.[39] Augustana Theatre sponsors an improv group, Brand Name Improv. The department also hosts the Claire Donaldson New Play Festival (formerly the 8-in-48 Claire Donaldson Short Play Festival), which occurs every other year.[40] It was the first theatre department in the state to host a 24 hour play festival. In 2023, the department collaborated with Lifescapes of Sioux Falls and the Black Hills Playhouse to perform the first all-abilities show, which included a half Augustana cast and a half Lifescapes cast, which Augustana students designing as well.
In 2006, the Center for Visual Arts replaced the old art department buildings, previously used as barracks during World War II.[9] It has artist and professor studios, studio classrooms for design, drawing, printmaking, painting, sculpture, ceramics, an art education lab, and the Eide-Dalrymple Gallery, which hosts several art exhibitions every year.[41]
Augustana's honors program,Civitas, launched in 2007.[42][43] "Civitas" isLatin for "citizenship" and the program is built upon the work ofDietrich Bonhoeffer, aGermanLutheranpastor andtheologian who was a founding member of theConfessing Church and a participant in theGerman resistance movement againstNazism. Bonhoeffer's essay "The Structure of Responsible Life" is the program's central focus.[44] EmphasizingStellvertretung (roughly translated as "vicarious representative action"), Bonhoeffer participated in theAbwehr plot to assassinate Hitler and subsequently wrote the piece as a justification for his actions. Students examine his work in classes specifically designated for Civitas and in special honors sections of existing courses. 40 students are selected from each graduating class; they must maintain a minimum 3.0 GPA,[42] with entrance priority going to incoming students with an ACT score of at least 27 and a 3.5 cumulative high school GPA.[44]
The Augustana Vikings participate inNCAA Division II athletics in theNorthern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. The Vikings joined the NSIC from theNorth Central Conference, which folded in 2008. The men's basketball team won the NCAA Division II national championship in 2016.[45] The women's basketball team advanced to the NCAA Division II Final Four in 2013.[46] The men's baseball team won the NCAA Division II national championship in 2018.[47] During both the 2004–05 and 2009–10 school years, Augustana wrestlers finished second in the NCAA Division II championship. TheSanford Pentagon is the home court for the men's and women's basketball teams. TheElmen Center, opened in 1989,[9] is the home court for the volleyball and wrestling teams.
On December 13, 2018, PresidentStephanie Herseth Sandlin announced that Augustana would begin pursuing a transition to Division I as part of the university's "Vision 2030" plan. In the fall of 2023, Augustana University launched their Division I men's hockey team, a step towards Sandlin's goal.[48] As of 2024, following theSummit League's denial of Augustana's application, the plan has generally been abandoned.[49]
The college used to operate a radio station, 89.1 FMKAUR, that broadcasts 24 hours per day. Until 2009, KAUR broadcast a variety of genres of music and specialized in independent orcollege rock. KAUR was founded in 1972. Augustana also had a self-constructed AM station, founded in 1945.[citation needed] In 2009, Augustana administrators discontinued KAUR's student operations in favor of broadcastingMinnesota Public Radio News.[50]
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