One of the leading comprehensive universities in Texas, the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio strives to educate men and women who will become concerned and enlightened citizens with values developed in a Judeo-Christian tradition. In 1881 the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word founded Incarnate Word College as a center of higher education for young women. The college was admitted to membership in the Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools in 1919, and joined the Texas Association of Colleges as a senior college in 1920. The Graduate Studies division was established in 1950. Male students were first admitted into the college's undergraduate programs in 1970. Incarnate Word College became the University of the Incarnate Word in 1996.