The University of Saint Mary of the Lake (USML) is a private Roman Catholic seminary in Mundelein, Illinois.

In addition to Mundelein Seminary, USML offers the School of Parish Leadership & Evangelization (SPLE) and the Pontifical Faculty of Theology.

[3][4] During the later 1840s and early 1850s, James Oliver Van de Velde had frequent conflicts with the university administrators, all of whom came from Holy Name Parish in Chicago.

In 1852, Van de Veldt offered administration of Saint Mary to the Fathers of the Holy Cross at the University of Notre Dame.

[7] In 1926, the archdiocese opened the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception on the seminary campus, designed by Chicago architect Joseph W.

After meeting with faculty and students, the committee sent the US Conference of Catholic Bishops a positive report on the Mundelein program.

[13] The board of advisors in 2000 decided to rename the institution as the University of Saint Mary of the Lake / Mundelein Seminary.

It is the first complete one-volume edition containing the approved English-language texts of the Liturgy of the Hours, with psalms that are pointed for the chanting of the Divine Office.

On September 22, 2012, Sister Sara Butler, a USML professor and a member of the International Theological Commission, became a papally-appointed expert at the 13th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization.

[14] On December 3, 2012, Dr. Elizabeth Nagel was appointed to succeed John G. Lodge as president of the Pontifical Faculty of Theology.

[7] In 2022, USML received a grant from the Lilly Endowment to help fund development of a project to integrate new pedagogical methods into formation programs for seminarians, priests and lay leaders.

[16] USML received another grand from the endowment in April 2024 for $1.25 million to assist the School of Parish Leadership & Evangelization.

The chapel is dedicated to Mary, mother of Jesus, under the title of her Immaculate Conception, the patroness of the seminary.

Its programs include: The Pontifical Faculty provides seminarians with three degrees in sacred theology: The School of Parish Leadership & Evangelization (SPLE) has several programs: Amongst the graves on campus are those of two former archbishops of Chicago: In addition to the archdiocese of Chicago, the seminary was used by the following dioceses as of the 2020–2021 academic year: United States Uganda India