University of Mary Paper Format & Writing Requirements

University of Mary at a glance

A private Benedictine university on a hilltop above the Missouri River in Bismarck, North Dakota, known for nursing and business programs, a Year-Round Campus model that speeds degree completion, and Marauders teams in the Northern Sun.

The campus sits in Bismarck, North Dakota, operates as a private (benedictine) institution, and enrolls about 4,000 students — a scale that directly shapes how writing support works. Founded in 1959 with an acceptance rate around 85%, UMary pairs selective admissions with the large-course writing loads typical of its category.

Citation styles University of Mary actually requires

UMary courses predominantly require APA 7 or MLA 9 or Chicago. That is not a trivial preference: it decides your title page, heading levels, in-text punctuation and reference format on every graded document.

• APA 7: used across social science, nursing and business courses
• MLA 9: used across humanities and writing-sequence courses
• Chicago: used across history, fine arts and some social science seminars

Verify against the specific course syllabus anyway — instructors can override departmental defaults, and the first paper is where they enforce it.

The writing requirement, decoded

First-year composition feeds a core shaped by Benedictine liberal-arts values, and nursing, business and education majors add care plans, case analyses and reflective essays; the Writing Center tutors in person and online.

Plan the sequence early: composition requirements compound, and students who defer them discover the advanced seminars — where the writing-intensity lives — conflict with major courses later. The registrar's degree audit shows exactly which flags remain; check it each semester.

Three things about University of Mary papers that surprise new students

• Founded in 1959 as Mary College by the Benedictine Sisters of the nearby Annunciation Monastery, the school became the University of Mary in 1986.
• Annunciation Monastery still sits beside the campus on its hilltop above the Missouri River, and the Sisters remain part of university governance.
• The Year-Round Campus option lets driven students stack semesters through the summer and finish multiple degrees faster than the standard calendar allows.

None of these appear in the course description. All of them appear in the rubric. Students who learn them in week one report smoother first-semesters than students who meet them at the deadline.

Assignments University of Mary students face most

• Essay — most frequently assigned across UMary's programs
• Coursework — most frequently assigned across UMary's programs
• Research Paper — most frequently assigned across UMary's programs
• Case Study — most frequently assigned across UMary's programs

Popular programs at UMary include nursing, business administration, education — each pairs the assignment list above with its own capstone or practicum expectations, detailed on our subject pages.