Saint Leo University

Saint Leo University is a private Catholic liberal arts university in St. Leo, Florida. It was established in 1889. The university is associated with the Holy Name Monastery, a Benedictine convent, and Saint Leo Abbey, a Benedictine monastery. The university and the abbey are both named for Pope Leo the Great, bishop of Rome from 440 to 461. The name also honors Leo XIII, who was Pope at the time the university was founded, and Leo Haid, then abbot of Maryhelp Abbey in North Carolina, now Belmont Abbey, who participated in founding the university and served as its first president.

The first Catholic college in Florida, Saint Leo is one of the fifteen largest Catholic colleges in the United States. It enrolls students at the traditional University Campus, and through its Center for Online Learning.