The university is named after St. Catherine of Alexandria, the fourth-century Egyptian lay philosopher who suffered martyrdom for her faith.

[9] A site for St. Kate's was chosen atop the city's second-highest hill in St. Paul in the area now known as Highland Park.

[4] St. Kate's coeducational Minneapolis campus in the Riverside neighborhood offers associate degree and certificate programs in numerous healthcare fields.

At St. Catherine University, students enroll in one of three colleges:[14] Students pursue their majors or programs of study through four discipline-based schools:[15] Collectively, the schools host more than 100 fields of study, many of which are available in both traditional day and nontraditional hybrid (evening, weekend and online) formats.

[16] St. Kate's also has nearly 60 baccalaureate majors, plus another 35 or so through the Associated Colleges of the Twin Cities, as well as dozens of minors and nine pre-professional programs.

[20] In 2014, St. Catherine University expanded its Occupational Therapy Assistant program to offer a blended learning option.

[21] St. Catherine University offers opportunities for faculty-student research and mentoring through department and grant-funded initiatives—as well as through these programs and national centers: First-year students or sophomores who have achieved at least a 3.5 GPA are eligible to apply for the St. Catherine University's Antonian Scholars program for promising learners, leaders, researchers, writers, performers, and creative thinkers.

[4] St. Catherine University offers more than 150 study abroad options in 50 countries, ranging in length from January term to yearlong.

[32] Students have access to computer labs in the halls and resident advisors (RAs) who provide ongoing support, guidance, and social activities.

Among them are works on paper—prints (etchings, engravings, woodcuts, lithographs and silkscreens), watercolors and drawings—as well as paintings and sculpture by artists of different nationalities and periods, including: In addition to paper files, the St. Catherine University archives contains more than 8,000 photographs and 4,500 artifacts.

[34] The archives contain artifacts from before the Christian era and from the early days of printing, including a Heritage Edition of The Saint John's Bible.

Club and recreational sports include aerobics, volleyball, basketball, soccer, tennis and rock climbing.

[38] The benefits for student athletes are emerging at the university's Women's Health Integrative Research (WHIR) Center.