Sioux City, Iowa · Private nonprofit · 4-year · Small city
Overview
Located in Sioux City, Iowa, Briar Cliff University is a private nonprofit four-year institution. The campus sits in a small city. It enrolled 947 students in fall 2024, including 766 undergraduates and 181 graduate students. Its religious affiliation is Roman Catholic.
Briar Cliff University offers certificates, associate degrees, bachelor's degrees, master's degrees, and professional doctorates across 66 programs. Its largest programs by number of graduates are Business Administration and Management, Social Work, and Exercise Science and Kinesiology. It awarded 206 degrees and certificates in 2024-25. 10 of its programs can be completed entirely online.
The school has an open admission policy. 64% of full-time first-year students return for a second year. The student-to-faculty ratio is 10 to 1.
Key figures
Open
Admission policy
947
Students enrolled
64%
First-year retention
206
Degrees and certificates awarded, 2024-25
66
Programs and majors
10:1
Student-to-faculty ratio
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Delivery modes
CampusOnlineHybrid
Program levels
CertificateAssociateBachelorMasterProfessional
Programs and majors offered 66
Graduate counts are degrees and certificates awarded in each program between July 2024 and June 2025. Largest fields are listed first.
Retention is for students who started in fall 2023 and returned in fall 2024.
First-year retention, full-time students
64%
Student-to-faculty ratio
10:1
Degrees and certificates awarded
Awards conferred between July 1, 2024 and June 30, 2025.
Bachelor's degrees
142
Master's degrees
25
Professional doctorates
34
Post-master's certificates
5
Enrollment
Students, fall 2024
947
Undergraduates, fall 2024
766
Graduate students, fall 2024
181
Full-time, fall 2024
72%
Students over the full 2024-25 year
995
Undergraduates, 2024-25
796
Graduate students, 2024-25
199
Full-time, 2024-25
69%
Size category
Under 1,000 students
Student body
Share of all students enrolled during 2024-25. Small groups can round to zero and are not listed.
Women
53%
Men
47%
White
58%
Hispanic or Latino
11%
Black or African American
6%
Asian
1%
Two or more races
3%
American Indian or Alaska Native
1%
International (U.S. nonresident)
8%
Race or ethnicity unknown
10%
Online and flexible learning
Distance education in 2024-25.
Programs that can be completed fully online
10
Programs with a fully online option
6
Online undergraduate programs
Yes
Online graduate programs
Yes
Students studying fully online
15%
Students taking some online courses
26%
Campus and services
Setting
Small city
Academic calendar
Semester
Religious affiliation
Roman Catholic
Carnegie classification
Doctoral/Professional Universities
Athletic association
NAIA
Athletic conference
Great Plains Athletic Conference
President
Matthew Draud
Services and opportunities
Study abroad, Undergraduate research, Teacher certification, Academic and career counseling, Student employment services, Job placement for graduates, Accepts AP credit
For veterans and service members
Yellow Ribbon Program, Credit for military training