Saint Leo traces its history to August 10, 1881, when
Edmund F. Dunne, a former chief justice of the
Arizona Territory, gained control of 100,000 acres in Florida. To accommodate a number of German-speaking colonists,
John Moore, Bishop of the
Diocese of St. Augustine, wrote the abbot of Saint Vincent Archabbey in
Latrobe, Pennsylvania to request a German-speaking priest. That request led to the Benedictine monks first arriving in the area. That same month, Benedictine nuns arrived from Allegheny, Pennsylvania. St. Leo College, the original name of the institution, opened its doors on September 14, 1890. The first student to arrive was 12 years old. He and six others were enrolled on the first day, and the student body grew to 32 for the 1890–1891 school year. In 1898, before it was legal in Florida for black and white students to attend school together, Saint Leo enrolled a black student—Rudolph Antorcha from Cuba. Today, he and the welcoming Benedictines are honored with a sculpture titled A Spirit of Belonging, which was dedicated at University Campus in 2013. Over the years, the school went through a series of varying focuses and name changes: St. Leo's College initially, then St. Leo Military College (1890–1903), St. Leo College (1903–17), St. Leo College Preparatory School (1917–18), Saint Leo College (1918–20), St. Leo College High School (1920–23), St. Leo Academy (1923–27), Benedictine High School (1927–29), Saint Leo College Preparatory School (1929–64), Saint Leo College (1959–99), and finally Saint Leo University (1999–present). During that time, it served as a military college within three different periods. In 2002, the university expanded its online degree offerings to include the MBA program, enrolling 120 students in its first term. The university announced plans in July 2021 to merge with
Marymount California University, another private Catholic university. The transition was expected to be completed by January 2023. However, plans for the merger fell through after St. Leo University's accreditor rejected its plans to acquire Marymount California University, and Marymount California University closed in August 2022. In February 2023, Saint Leo University closed some of its satellite locations, eliminated 111 faculty/staff positions, cut three degree programs, and phased out six NCAA division II teams, facing continuing enrollment declines and financial issues. The Lionova Institute will focus on expanding Saint Leo’s impact through online education, healthcare and nursing pathways, international partnerships, military-aligned education, and workforce-connected learning models. This initiative builds upon the legacy of former Saint Leo president Arthur F. Kirk Jr., who is widely regarded as a pioneer in nonprofit online education. Since 1959, when the junior college was started, Saint Leo has had 12 presidents: • John I. Leonard (1959–61) • Rev. Stephen Herrmann,
O.S.B. (1961–68) • Anthony W. Zaitz (1968–70) • Rt. Rev. Marion Bowman,
O.S.B. (1970–71) • Thomas B. Southard (1971–85) •
M. Daniel Henry (1985–87) • Msgr. Frank M. Mouch (1987–96) • Arthur F. Kirk Jr. (1997–2015) •
William J. Lennox Jr. (2015–18) • Jeffrey D. Senese (2018–22) • Edward Dadez (2022–25) • Jim Burkee (2025–present) ==Undergraduate admissions==