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The Academy and the Motherhouse of the Sisters of Charity were built on an upper Fifth Avenue tract that is now part of Central Park. After New York City announced plans to enlarge Central Park in 1855, the Sisters of Charity purchased Fonthill, the estate overlooking the Hudson River in the Riverdale section of the Bronx. Fonthill Castle, built by Shakespearean actor Edwin Forrest, still stands on campus and serves the offices of Admissions and Financial Aid.
As educational opportunities expanded for women, the
Academy continued to evolve and, in 1910, began to serve
as a four-year liberal arts college. In 1911, the
Regents of the University of the State of New York
amended the charter of the Academy of Mount Saint
Vincent, changing its corporate name to the College of
Mount Saint Vincent and permitting it to confer
baccalaureate degrees. Mount Saint Vincent was the
first women’s college in New York City. Its
programs became coeducational in 1974.
Today, the College of Mount Saint Vincent continues to
uphold the mission entrusted
to it by the Sisters of Charity. Inspired by the
spirit of
Saint Vincent de Paul and
Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, deeply
rooted in the Catholic tradition, and authentically
ecumenical, the College prepares students for lives of
professional accomplishment and service.
At the Mount, we are dedicated to the education of the whole person. The College is intimate enough that we know our students by name. We are diverse enough to live with a democratic pride, resourcefulness, and fearlessness that few other institutions can claim. We are interconnected enough to know that across academic programs, a Mount education extends beyond grades, honors, and jobs to an understanding of human dignity and a conviction about our obligations to each other that transcend age, race, religion, wealth, gender, and ethnicity.
Our undergraduate programs in the liberal arts include professional offerings in the fields of business, communication, education, and nursing. The College also offers graduate programs in education and nursing, certificate programs, and degree-completion programs for part-time adult students.