The high school division of the college was made independent in 1919 as Maur Hill Prep School. With the college considered an extension of the monastery, the monks did not seek their own civil incorporation until 1931, when the debt incurred in the building of the new monastery threatened the accreditation of the college. The monastic community of the abbey today numbers some 50 monks. The current head is Abbot James Albers, O.S.B. The abbey continues to be heavily involved in the life and decision making of Benedictine College. In 1962 the abbey established a daughter foundation in Brazil: Mosteiro São Jose, located in Mineiros, Goiás.