As the center for the Franciscans, the Mission played an important role in education. From 1854 to 1885 it was chartered as an apostolic college and from 1869 to 1877 it also functioned as a college for lay men. Thus making it Santa Barbara's first institution of higher education. In 1896 this education initiative was led to the creation of a high school seminary program that in 1901 would become a separate institution, Saint Anthony's Seminary. In 1929 the college level program was relocated to Mission San Luis Rey de Francia and would become San Luis Rey College from 1950 to 1968 before relocating to Berkeley, California what is today the Franciscan School of Theology (FST).