Sacred Heart University

Sacred Heart University is a private Roman Catholic university in Fairfield, Connecticut, USA. Founded in 1963 by the Most Reverend Walter W. Curtis, Bishop of the Diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut, Sacred Heart University was established to provide affordable, quality Catholic education to the people of Connecticut. Sacred Heart was the first Catholic university in the country to be staffed by the laity (that is, not members of the clergy). The university has grown steadily since its initial class of 173 students enrolled in 1963. The first on-campus student accommodation was constructed in 1991 – this has since increased to ten residential halls housing thousands of students. Throughout the 2010s new facilities and buildings have been added including a student commons building, academic schools and the Wellness Centre.

Today Sacred Heart University is home several thousand students studying a wide range of subjects at the undergraduate, graduate and doctoral level. The university offers over 70 degree programs across its five colleges and two schools, these are: the College of Arts & Sciences, School of Communication & Media Arts, School of Computing, Jack Welch College of Business, Isabelle Farrington College of Education, College of Health Professions and the College of Nursing. The college offers numerous evening and weekend programs for adults who work full-time.

The Sacred Heart campus covers over 100 acres in the suburb of Fairfield, 50 miles north of New York city. The university has several other satellite campuses as well as its own 18-hole golf course. The main residential and academic buildings are at Fairfield as well as extensive sports and leisure facilities and the university’s student centre.