Siena College is an independent Roman Catholic liberal arts college in Loudonville, Albany County, New York, United States.

Siena is a four-year, coeducational, independent college in the Franciscan tradition, founded by the Order of Friars Minor, in 1937.

It has 3,000 full-time students and offers undergraduate degrees in business, liberal arts, and sciences.

The Franciscans are a group of related mendicant religious orders within the Catholic Church, founded in 1209 by Francis of Assisi.

These orders include the Order of Friars Minor, the Order of Saint Clare, and the Third Order of Saint Francis.

These orders adhere to the teachings and spiritual disciplines of the founder and of his main associates and followers, such as Clare of Assisi, Anthony of Padua, and Elizabeth of Hungary, among many others.

The liberal arts (Latin: artes liberales) are those subjects or skills that in classical antiquity were considered essential for a free person (Latin: liberalis, "worthy of a free person") to know in order to take an active part in civic life, something that (for Ancient Greece) included participating in public debate, defending oneself in court, serving on juries, and most importantly, military service.

Grammar, logic, and rhetoric were the core liberal arts, while arithmetic, geometry, the theory of music, and astronomy also played a (somewhat lesser) part in education.

Catholicism (from Greek, ', "universal doctrine") is a term which in its broadest sense refers to the beliefs and practices of Christian churches that understand and describe themselves as being Catholic within the universal and apostolic church.

Higher education, post-secondary education, or third level education is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completion of secondary education.

Often delivered at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, conservatories, and institutes of technology, higher education is also available through certain college-level institutions, including vocational schools, trade schools, and other career colleges that award academic degrees or professional certifications.

Tertiary education at non-degree level is sometimes referred to as further education or continuing education as distinct from higher education.