In the aftermath of the Reformation, and due to the loss of Basel as a traditional seat of learning in Catholic Switzerland, the Jesuit College of Lucerne was founded in 1574 at the suggestion of Charles Borromeo, Archbishop of Milan.

This was the prevailing situation until the 1920s when, after a hiatus of almost 400 years, the opportunity to establish a Swiss Catholic university with faculties in Fribourg and Lucerne was pursued,[4] but to no avail.

[5] In 2001 a new faculty of was founded and in 2005 national recognition of the new university's status was achieved through a decree made by the Swiss Federal Council.

In the early years of its existence the university had no dedicated premises and operated from a range of buildings spread throughout the city of Lucerne.

The revised law made provision for the establishment of a faculty of economics, the financing and development of which should, for the first four years of operation, be ensured by third-party funding from companies, foundations and private individuals.

Established in 2006 and therefore the youngest of its kind, the University of Lucerne’s Department of Political Science is already rated as one of the best in Switzerland for scientific publication output and international academic visibility.