Studebaker executive A.R. Erskine donated a vehicle for hands-on instruction.
In 1945, Saint Mary's Academy moved to the former Erskine estate on the south side of South Bend. Saint Mary's College is located across the street (Indiana 933) from the University of Notre Dame. Saint Mary's was the first women's college in the Great Lakes region.
Today the school offers five bachelor's degrees and four master's degrees (the master's programs are co-educational). There are approximately 120,000 living alumnae. Proposals to merge with University of Notre Dame (then a men's institution) in the early 1970s were rejected by Saint Mary's College, and Notre Dame became coeducational on its own in 1972. The college resides within the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend.
In 2023, the board of trustees first agreed to admit transgender female students, later rescinding the decision because many members of the community considered it a "threat to our Catholic identity."
=== Presidents ===
M. Pauline O'Neill, 1895–1931
Irma …
