Marymount University is an independent, comprehensive Catholic university, combining the liberal arts tradition with career preparation. Marymount was founded in 1950 and is sponsored by the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary. The University is located in Arlington, Virginia, minutes from Washington, D.C., and serves approximately 3,700 men and women through its Main Campus, Ballston Campus, Loudoun Academic Center, and outreach activities in northern Virginia.

As an independent, comprehensive Catholic university offering programs at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, Marymount University strives to foster the intellectual, moral, spiritual, social, cultural, and physical development of each student through an education that combines the liberal arts tradition with career preparation.

Marymount University aspires to prepare students to be thoughtful and effective persons within family, community, and society; to develop students with the competencies necessary for entry, growth, and success in their chosen careers; to build within its students a shared sense of community among individuals drawn from diverse national, cultural, and social backgrounds; to foster in its students a spirit of service to others, a concern for social justice, and a commitment to living in an ethically responsible way; and to develop in students both the competencies and motivation to be lifelong learners.

As an educational community, Marymount is formed by the heritage and traditions of liberal arts education, the American higher education community, the Catholic Church, and the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary.

As a university in the liberal arts tradition, Marymount fosters the development of intellectual curiosity; an unbiased pursuit of truth;     an understanding of the varying modes of inquiry utilized across the disciplines; and the development of the skills, competencies, and motivation necessary for intellectual inquiry and lifelong learning. Marymount fosters the pursuit of excellence in teaching, learning, and scholarship, and forms a community marked by intellectual freedom, civility, and diverse interpretations of the human experience.

As a comprehensive university in the American higher education tradition, Marymount is a learning/ teaching community that emphasizes excellence in teaching and places primary focus on the learning-teaching process; strives to contribute to the development of knowledge through the scholarship of its members; and contributes to the development of its community through service outreach programs. The University recognizes the value and importance of career preparation as a fundamental purpose of university education. The University provides both undergraduate and graduate education, serving a variety of student audiences, in response to the needs and interests of its community and region.

As a Catholic university, Marymount affirms that the exploration of humanity's relationship to the Divine is an integral part of the academic work of the University; challenges all members of the University community to live ethically responsible lives; fosters a community of faith exploration open to individuals of diverse religious backgrounds and beliefs; and strives to exemplify its Catholic tradition within the University and in the way in which all members of the University community interact with one another and with the larger community outside the University.

As a university founded and sponsored by the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary, Marymount draws from and celebrates the 150-year RSHM tradition of ministry through education across four continents. In the spirit of the University founders, Marymount strives to establish a shared sense of community among individuals drawn from diverse national, cultural, and social backgrounds, and emphasizes a spirit of service to others and responsiveness to the needs of persons and groups who do not fully share in the bounty of the larger community.