Why Notre Dame?

Notre Dame is a leading American research university that offers undergraduate, professional, and graduate students a chance to pursue their academic endeavors in a unique scholarly community. Enriched by Catholic intellectual and cultural traditions, it is a place that throughout its history has sought to bring knowledge into service of justice. 

Students at a Glance

• 75 undergraduate majors and 8 colleges and schools
• 8,617 Undergraduate, 3,990 Graduate/Professional Students, 1,386 Faculty
• 10:1 student to faculty ratio
• 90% of classes have fewer than 50 students
• Home of the creative intellectual, the bold and the ethical, the restless seekers of social justice
• Highly collaborative, team-oriented leadership skills, exceptional analytical and problem-solving skills, well-rounded, ethical approach to making critical business decisions
• Ranked in the Top 25 institutions of higher learning by U.S News & World Report, Forbes, Niche, and others
• Notre Dame Centers & Institutes
• Notre Dame at a Glance

Diversity

“.... We are together a richly woven, colorful fabric, and every person, each with their own background, talents, and gifts, is a thread in the larger design…"                                                                                                                                        - Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., President

We believe diversity is a moral and intellectual necessity, and promoting diversity among students, faculty, and staff is an essential part of being a Catholic institution. Diversity enriches our social interactions and intellectual lives by exposing all of us to approaches and frame of reference that challenge our unexamined assumptions.

Undergraduate

• Students come from all 50 states and 71 countries worldwide
• 52% male, 48% female, 26% US students of color, 7% international, 15% first-generation or low socio-economic (2019 Admission Statistics)
• 89% of our incoming freshmen are ranked in the top 10% of their class, 33% headed a major student organization, 38% were captains of a varsity sports, 53% were involved in music, drama, fine arts, dance (2018 Admission Statistics)
• Geographic Distribution: 19% West/Southwest, 35% Midwest, 15% South/Southeast, 24% East, 7% International (2018 Admission Statistics)

Graduate

• Our graduate students are confronting some of this century’s most vexing topics such as cancer’ genetic networks, human rights, big data security, solar cell technology, climate modeling, and peace efforts.
• 99% are full time, 73% are doctorate, 43% are women, 26% are international students. Among U/S students, 15% are from underrepresented groups (The Graduate School).

Programs and Initiatives

• Multicultural Students Programs and Services is a community that celebrates difference and increases cultural awareness.
• The Gender Relations Center designs and implements programs about healthy relationships, gender, and sexuality consistent with the Catholic character of the University.
• Office of Student Enrichment is a place that offers programming and potential resources for members of the Notre Dame community who identify with the first-generation college and/or low-income student experience.
• The AnBryce Scholars Initiative brings first-generation, under resources students into a family of scholars and mentors, who seek to expose the students to the greater world and encourage them to better it.
• To both advance and support increased diversity and inclusion in the Notre Dame community, the University invests in a range of initiatives and programming for students, faculty, and staff.

Innovation

• The IDEA Center is the University of Notre Dame’s collaborative innovation hub dedicated to expanding the technological and societal impact of the University’s innovations, with a vision of becoming a best-in-class player in the commercialization and innovation space while making the world a better place.
• Innovation Park is a 55,000 square foot technology and entrepreneurship facility that serves as a site of nucleation where productive collisions between individuals such as entrepreneurs and inventors, students and investors, and subject matter experts and University staff routinely take place.
• ESTEEM is an 11-month master of science degree program that enables students to discover, define, develop, and launch a lifelong engagement with the intersection of innovation, entrepreneurship, and their own personal “why”.  
• McCloskey Business Plan Competition gives students and alumni an opportunity to submit an idea for a new product, service, or technology. The competition focuses on ventures that have not yet been launched or are in their earliest stages of launch. 

Community

• 100% of first-year students and 80% of sophomores, juniors, and seniors live in the 30 residence halls on campus,
• Each residence hall has its own unique history, set of traditions, rector, chapel, mascot, colors, and signature event where collectively they combine to create a unified campus community that is unlike any other in the country.
• With over 400+ undergraduate and graduate student clubs and organizations, Notre Dame students have a lot of opportunities to develop as a leader, grow in faith, and become an active participant in a vibrant campus community.

Service & Global Impact

• Notre Dame is committed to Global Impact: Notre Dame International.
• The Keough School of Global Affairs, the first new college at Notre Dame in almost 100 years, will prepare students to ethically engage global human development.
• The Pulte Institute for Global Development promotes human development and dignity among people worldwide through applied innovations, impact evaluation, education, and training that helps build just and equitable societies.
• Notre Dame’s network of 11 Global Gateways and Global Centers aim to extend the global reach of the University’s research, scholarship, and programs; enhance students’ international education and experience; and provide a means for meaningful academic, cultural, and civic engagement.
• Nearly 60% of Notre Dame Undergraduates study abroad for academic credit which ranks Notre Dame at #10 nationally for students studying abroad.
• 85% of Notre Dame undergraduates are active in social service, 4% of each graduating class spends a year or more in service-focused programs, and 800+ Notre Dame graduates have served in the peace corps.
• Our Center for Social Concerns is a national leaders in community-based learning and service.
• Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) has helped transform Catholic schools across the county and provides elementary and secondary school students and teachers with valuable resources.

Research

• Researchers at Notre Dame are committed to advancing human understanding through research, scholarship, and creative endeavor in order to be a repository for knowledge and a powerful means for doing good in the world.
• Key research areas.
• 138.1 million in record-breaking research awards in FY17, ranked #1 in the country for NEH Fellowships since 1999, and nearly 150% growth in research expenditures since 2006.
• Over One-Third of Notre Dame undergraduates conduct research before they graduate. Their projects are as diverse as their interests, ranging from the intersection of science and religion to fighting factory farm pollution, but all our student researchers have a few things in common: intellectual curiosity and a passion for improving the world.
• Through the Center for Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement (CUSE), students can take advantage of hundreds of opportunities for research, scholarship, and creative endeavors.
• “A great Catholic university for the 21st century, one of the preeminent research institutions in the world.” - Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C.

Experiential Learning

• Moreau First Year Experience helps new students to make a meaningful transition to collegiate life at Notre Dame by integrating their academic, co-curricular and residential experiences.
• Silicon Valley Semester allows a select group of Notre Dame juniors the opportunity to spend their spring semester living, studying, and working in Palo Alto, combining a credit-bearing internship with coursework at the Notre Dame California building.  
• Washington DC Program offers students the ability to study off-campus, becoming immersed in the political and cultural life of Washington DC.
• The Student International Business Council (SIBC) is the largest student-led organization on campus that offers Notre Dame students life-changing business experience with organizations around the world. The SIBC vision is ‘peace through commerce’ and it is designed to prepare the next generation of leaders for the challenges of the future. Students participate in semester-long products with partner companies in the divisions of accounting, consulting, finance, marketing, social entrepreneurship, and STEM.  

Graduate Student Talent

Whether you are looking for scholarly achievement, ethical standards, or innovative thinking, our graduate students have the solutions you need. With expert technical inquiry and creative, entrepreneurial spirit, our scholars have already fostered numerous advancements and discoveries that have benefited humankind. Imagine what they can do for you! 

The University of Notre Dame's Masters and Ph.D. students are confronting some of this century's most vexing topics: cancers’ genetic networks, human rights, big data security, solar cell technology, climate modeling, and peace efforts. With a superb faculty, internationally respected graduate programs, and a fierce commitment to maintaining the highest levels of research, teaching, and service, Notre Dame offers our graduate students a comprehensive set of resources that contribute to their formation as the next generation of global innovators, educators, and leaders.  

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