Description Hilbert College is a four-year liberal arts institution in the Catholic, Franciscan tradition not far from New York's Niagara Falls. The school has some 1,100 students and offers four-year bachelor degree programs and two-year associate degree programs. For those seeking a college major with the promise of some job security, Hilbert has one of the few Economic Crime Investigation programs in the country. It also offers about a dozen other bachelor-level programs. The university was founded in 1957 by Sister Edwina Bogel and named for Mother Colette Hilbert, founder of the Franciscan Sisters of St. Joseph.