Company Profile
Company Overview
Rivier University is a four-year, Catholic institution that welcomes students from all backgrounds and provides a transformative and supportive educational experience.
Located in Nashua, New Hampshire, Rivier was founded by the Sisters of the Presentation of Mary and Sister Madeleine of Jesus in 1933. Throughout its history, the University has been dedicated to providing a learning environment that educates the whole person—mind, body, and spirit. Our graduates excel professionally, academically, and in service to their communities.
We encourage you to come to Rivier with an open mind, ready to embrace self-discovery and explore the world that will unfold before you.
One of the University’s greatest strengths is its Roman Catholic heritage. For more than 80 years, Rivier has been a place where Judeo-Christian and Catholic values inform what we teach and what we talk about as a community.
As a co-educational institution of higher learning, the University is dedicated to the education of undergraduate and graduate students in both the liberal arts and professional courses of study.
Core Mission
Founded in 1933 by the Sisters of the Presentation of Mary and Sister Madeleine of Jesus, Rivier University is a Catholic institution of higher education dedicated to transforming hearts and minds to serve the world.
The Rivier Mission
Committed to the faith heritage, intellectual tradition, and social teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, the University educates the whole person in the context of an academic community that cultivates critical thought, sound judgment, and respect for all people. This community supports the intellectual growth of all its members while offering them opportunities for social, cultural, moral, and spiritual development. The challenge to the University community is to search for truth through the dialogue between faith and reason.
Rivier creates an environment in which integrated learning is the shared responsibility of students, faculty, staff, and administrators, and is pursued in all the curricular and co-curricular programs of the University. To participate in the life of Rivier University is to strive for academic excellence, to take responsibility for ourselves and for others, and to engage in dialogue about basic human issues facing society, especially the plight of the poor and powerless. The University extends to all of its members, and also to the greater community, an invitation to join in intellectual inquiry and dialogue.
Academic Excellence
Rivier offers academic programs at the Undergraduate, Professional Studies, Graduate, and Doctoral levels. No matter what level of study you’re engaged with at Rivier, you’ll find the academic experience engaging, hands-on, and face-to-face with faculty. You’ll choose from online and hybrid classes in addition to traditional courses on our 68-acre campus.
A Diverse Student Body
We welcome traditional and non-traditional students who will work closely with our accomplished faculty members in the classroom and beyond. You’ll take on active learning opportunities that immerse you in your chosen field, and form lifelong relationships.
We encourage you to come to Rivier with an open mind, ready to embrace self-discovery and explore the world that will unfold before you.
Company History
Founded as a Catholic college to educate local mill workers' daughters in 1933, Rivier remains faithful to its core mission: transforming hearts and minds to serve the world.
Rivier University is named in honor of Blessed Anne-Marie Rivier, Foundress of the Sisters of the Presentation of Mary. Established in 1933 in Hudson, New Hampshire, the University moved in 1941 to the present campus site in Nashua. The University was incorporated in 1935 under the laws of the State of New Hampshire, and through two separate charters was invested with the power to confer both graduate and undergraduate degrees. Rivier is recognized for both on-campus and online programs that serve the needs of traditional-aged students as well as adult learners.
In conjunction with the bicentennial of the founding of the Sisters of the Presentation of Mary in 1796, the University formally recommitted to Anne Marie Rivier’s mission of teaching and serving the poor by making social justice and service to others a special focus of its work. The University’s core curriculum, Journeys of Transformation, educates students for lives as servant-leaders in an increasingly interdependent global community, where understanding and engaging with others is essential not only to individual success but also to a stable and sustainable world.
Rivier Today
Accredited since 1948, Rivier enrolls more than 2,300 students in Undergraduate, Professional Studies, Graduate, and Doctoral degree programs. With a focus on liberal arts and professional preparation, we offer academic excellence in a learning environment that seeks to educate the whole person—mind, body, and spirit. A Rivier education provides a unique combination of theory, experiential learning, and professional development through on-campus and online degree programs.