Ashford University

Knowledge is Everywhere, for Everyone. Ashford University comes to you with effective learning. Whether you bring Ashford into your home or pursue your degree on campus in Clinton, Iowa, you'll find the same tradition of academic excellence.

In 1918, the Sisters of St. Francis, Clinton, Iowa, founded Mount St.Clare College as a junior college for women.

The Ashford Mission

• The mission of Ashford University is to provide accessible, affordable, 
• innovative, high-quality learning opportunities and degree programs that 
• meet the diverse needs of individuals pursuing integrity in their lives, 
• professions, and communities.
• In addition to this mission, the faculty and staff have identified several purposes that guide and direct the University's efforts.

Purposes:

1. To foster a vigorous, diverse learning environment shaped by contemporary awareness, intellectual inquiry, and a shared search for truth in which students gain knowledge and build skills and values useful in their personal and career development.
2. To cultivate student-centered learning at all levels, supported by technological resources and led by qualified faculty and staff who are guided by contemporary scholarship and professional practice.
3. To promote the development of foundation values relevant to leadership in the 21st century: self-worth, creativity, interdependence, service, integrity, and effectiveness. 
4. To foster intellectual and personal growth, sensitivity to diversity and human dignity, effective and responsible leadership, environmental responsibility, and lifelong learning.