University of Notre Dame

The University of Notre Dame is a Catholic academic community of higher learning, animated from its origins by the Congregation of Holy Cross. The University is dedicated to the pursuit and sharing of truth for its own sake. As a Catholic university, one of its distinctive goals is to provide a forum where, through free inquiry and open discussion, the various lines of Catholic thought may intersect with all the forms of knowledge found in the arts, sciences, professions, and every other area of human scholarship and creativity.

The University prides itself on being an environment of teaching and learning that fosters the development in its students of those disciplined habits of mind, body, and spirit that characterize educated, skilled, and free human beings. In addition, the University seeks to cultivate in its students not only an appreciation for the great achievements of human beings but also a disciplined sensibility to the poverty, injustice and oppression that burden the lives of so many. The aim is to create a sense of human solidarity and concern for the common good that will bear fruit as learning becomes service to justice.

Notre Dame also has a responsibility to advance knowledge in a search for truth through original inquiry and publication. This responsibility engages the faculty and students in all areas of the University, but particularly in graduate and professional education and research. The University is committed to constructive and critical engagement with the whole of human culture.

The University encourages a way of living consonant with a Christian community and manifest in prayer, liturgy and service. Residential life endeavors to develop that sense of community and of responsibility that prepares students for subsequent leadership in building a society that is at once more human and more divine.

As an undergraduate at Notre Dame, you will transition into academic life by participating in the First Year of Studies. You can then discover the wealth of the University’s academic opportunities in the varied majors, minors, and programs offered by Arts and Letters, Business, Science, Engineering, and Architecture. You can learn in some of the most advanced academic facilities available anywhere such as the Jordan Hall of Science and the DeBartolo Center for the Performing Arts. You can also begin to discover a larger world by participating in one of Notre Dame’s 44 international study programs, as well as one of many exciting and expanding undergraduate research opportunities.

As a professional degree candidate in Law, Business, or Architecture at Notre Dame, you will find academic rigor, liberating discoveries in classrooms and studios, skilled mentoring by accomplished practitioners, and the ethical responsibility that belongs to Catholic professional education.

As a graduate student at Notre Dame, you will be mentored in a community of scholars, scientists, and artists that works at the highest level and engages in many collaborative projects across disciplines. Notre Dame’s numerous centers and institutes provide essential support for some of these multidisciplinary collaborations.