St. Michael's College was established at the behest of Archbishop
Jean-Baptiste Lamy, who had arrived in New Mexico in 1851 to find that formal schooling in the territory was nonexistent. After establishing the Loretto Academy for girls in 1852, Lamy recruited the
De La Salle Christian Brothers to open a similar school for boys, and St. Michael's held its first classes in the fall of 1859. In the 1870s, the school appointed a new leader, Brother Botulph, who oversaw its growth into an institution of higher learning. Under Botulph, St. Michael's began offering high school diplomas, and later, teaching certificates. In 1874 it received a charter from the territorial legislature, making it the oldest chartered college in New Mexico. In 1878, the school completed a new
main building which still stands in altered form on Old Santa Fe Trail. originally housed St. Michael's College Eventually, with different types of educational institutions becoming more sharply delineated, St. Michael's phased out its post-secondary courses by the end of
World War I to operate strictly as
St. Michael's High School. However, in the 1940s, the school's former principal Brother Benildus of Mary decided to re-establish St. Michael's College as an institution of higher learning. In 1944 he launched a fundraiser to build a new college on the existing campus which fell short of the goal. However, he got a second chance when the former Bruns Army General Hospital on Cerrillos Road was declared surplus property at the end of
World War II. In 1947, Benildus managed to secure a portion of the hospital complex totaling and 39 semi-permanent wooden buildings for the new college, which was ready to begin classes in the fall. By 1949 the college had over 200 students, and in 1961 it completed its first permanent building, Brother Benildus Hall. In 1966, the Christian Brothers changed the name of the school to the College of Santa Fe. Attempts to merge with
Highlands University faltered due to funding concerns, and the school nearly closed. In September 2009, a public-private partnership that included the City of Santa Fe, the New Mexico State Governor's Office and
Laureate Education (a for-profit corporation) purchased the campus, reopening the school as The College of Santa Fe, under different leadership. The name changed to Santa Fe University of Art and Design on August 30, 2010 after the school decided to narrow its focus on art and design. There is no longer an affiliation with the Lasallian Brothers or the alumni of College of Santa Fe. On May 18, 2016 the school announced that it would be acquired by
Raffles Education, a Singapore-based private company. However, the deal fell through, leaving ownership of the school with Laureate Education. Citing "significant ongoing financial challenges," the university closed after the 2017-2018 school year. ==Campus==