served as a women's college. Fontbonne College became co-educational in the 1970s. Its athletic teams compete in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. In 2023, there were 874 students enrolled.
In March 2024, university officials made public their decision to cease operations by 2025. Washington University in St. Louis agreed to purchase the campus.
== History ==
=== Early history ===
Fontbonne University, established in 1923 as "Fontbonne College" as a women's college, takes its name from Mother St. John Fontbonne, who, in 1808 after the French Revolution, refounded the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph (CSJ). More than a century and a half before, in 1650, the Sisters of St. Joseph had been founded in LePuy, France. During the French Revolution, the sisters were forced to return to their homes and the community was dispersed. Some 28 years after the re-founding, six Sisters of St. Joseph came to the United States in 1836 and established American roots at Carondelet, a small community …
