stems from the document's Latin name, Confessio Augustana. On August 21, 2015, the school announced that it would change its name from Augustana College and instead be known as Augustana University as of September 1, 2015. Academics Augustana University offers 53 majors, 34 minors, and 15 pre-professional programs. The top five most popular majors are nursing, biology, business administration, elementary education and psychology. The university's curriculum is based on a calendar divided into two 15-week semesters, separated by an interim period of four weeks during January, as well as an optional summer term of eight weeks. Classes may be taken during the month of January. The school offers a 12:1 student-to-faculty ratio, and notable professors include L. Adrien Hannus and V.R Nelson. Graduation requires completion of 124 total credit hours, 59 of which are general education courses, with a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.0. "The Augustana Plan," the name of the 59 credit core curriculum, is "designed to develop articulate communicators, competent writers, creative thinkers, skilled problem solvers, and ethically minded, responsible citizens of the world." Extensive internship, study-abroad, undergraduate research and Civitas, the university's honors program, supplement the curriculum. Between 2007 and 2008, 285 students participated in an international educational experience, and 44% of students study abroad before graduation. In 2017, U.S. News & World Report reported Augustana's financial endowment at $67.2 million. Donations have allowed the school to expand its academic facilities, such as the recent $7 million renovation of the Mikkelsen Library and the $45 million reconstruction of the Gilbert Science Complex, completed in 2015. Admissions and rankings , Augustana's student body consists of 1,825 undergraduates, 99% of whom are full-time students and 1% part-time, 59% were female. The acceptance rate stands at 61%. U.S. News & World Report classifies Augustana as a "more selective" school, with 62% of the students enrolled having graduated from high school in the top quartile of their class, the average GPA being 3.7. ACT test score submissions had a 23–28 middle 50% range, with an average ACT composite score of 26. Eight percent of incoming students in 2014 submitted SAT scores, with the middle 50% range for the mathematical and critical reading components being 500–650 and 510–580, respectively. The school's retention rate of freshmen returning as sophomores was 80% between 2013 and 2014. Those enrolled are primarily from South Dakota (42%) and Minnesota (34%), followed by Iowa (12%) and