bishop in 1866, he started holding college courses in private residences. In 1873, he established St. Joseph's College in Dubuque with a high school and four-year college program. By 1878, St. Joseph had three departments: preparatory, commercial, and ecclesiastical. The next year, the Franciscan Sisters of Dubuque started running the so-called domestic department and the college added theology courses for the formation of priests.
By 1886, enrollment at St. Joseph had fallen to 56 students. The college then added a classical, philosophical and theological course with Christian doctrine and foreign languages. The college was incorporated in 1893 and was able to start offering academic degrees.
=== Dubuque College/Columbia College ===
St. Joseph became Dubuque College in 1914 and started offering a four-year degree program. St. Joseph was accredited in 1917 by the North Central Association of Colleges and started admitting women to its summer school in 1919.
During this period, Dubuque College came into conflict …
