John Carroll University

This private, coeducational, Jesuit Catholic university is located in the University Heights suburb of Cleveland and has been consistently ranked among the top colleges in the American Midwest for over 25 years.

Established in 1886 as Saint Ignatius College, the university became known as John Carroll University (JCU) in 1923 in honour of America’s first Catholic Bishop.

The university is one of 28 Jesuit higher education institutions in the United States and is renowned for its scenic campus, which is home to more than twenty major buildings and acres of beautiful landscaped grounds.

As well as the main campus JCU also has a 38-acre property in the small town of Chardon, known as Thorn Acres. Between both campuses there are more than 100 student clubs, organisations, fraternities and sororities, many of which are based upon the idea of supporting the community.

There are eight residence halls on campus, three of which are designated for freshmen while the other five house upperclassmen.

There are just two main academic schools at JCU: the College of Arts and Sciences, and the Boler School of Business. Students of both schools must study a rigorous liberal arts core curriculum, which contains a lot of material central to the Jesuit principles. The College of Arts and Sciences offers 31 majors, while the Boler School of Business offers seven.

The vast majority of the JCU student population are undergraduates although there is a diverse set of master’s courses available too.

The university operates student exchange programs with several other Jesuit institutions as well as other universities across the world, including institutions in the UK, Japan and Germany.

Notable former students include TV journalist Tim Russert, former American football coach Don Shula, who led the Miami Dolphins to the NFL’s only perfect season ever and after whom the JCU stadium is named, and HBO founder Charles Dolan.