The university began its life as the "Istituto Superiore di Magistero Maria Ss. Assunta", an educational institute for nuns founded in 1939 by Luigia Tincani (Royal Decree No. 1760 of 26 October 1939). In 1989, it was reconstituted as "Libera Università Maria SS. Assunta" (LUMSA), a university for women. The university was opened to men in 1991.[4]
LUMSA is a private Catholic institution with autonomy at all levels of the university. As an Italian-accredited institution, its degrees are considered equivalent to those issued by Italian public universities.
The university is governed by a council which includes a President, a Rector, two Pro-Rectors, a Director General, and general council members. Since 2017, the President has been CardinalGiovanni Lajolo.[5]
University teaching is distributed across three departments:[6]
^Riondino, Michele (2017). "Reflections on fifty years of church teaching on universities (from Gravissimum Educationis to Ex Corde Ecclesiae)". In Whittle, Sean (ed.). Vatican II and New Thinking about Catholic Education (1st ed.). Routledge. p. 208. doi:10.4324/9781315389240. ISBN978-1-4724-8863-3. LCCN2016026573.