The University of Mary (abbreviated U-Mary) is a four year Catholic university near Bismarck, North Dakota. The university is the largest degree granting institution in Bismarck. It has a campus in Rome, Italy, and also operates academic programs at satellite locations in North Dakota (Fargo and downtown Bismarck), Montana, Wyoming, Kansas, Missouri, and Arizona. Since the University of Mary's beginnings as Mary College in the mid-1950s, its history has been one of rapid expansion. Founded in 1955 by The Benedictine Sisters of Annunciation Monastery as a two-year school, the college became a four-year degree-granting institution in 1959. It achieved university status — becoming the University of Mary — in 1986. The University of Mary is the only private, Catholic university in North Dakota. It has been accredited by The Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools since 1969. Since its incorporation in 1959, the university's enrollment has grown from 69 to more than 3,000.