According to the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, 244 colleges and universities in the US identify with the Roman Catholic faith. They represent a wide variety of educational opportunities ranging from large research universities to small liberal arts colleges.
Most Catholic colleges have a specific founding order or group with which they further identify. For example Villanova and Merrimack College are Augustinian; Seton Hall (NJ) and the University of Dallas are Diocesan; Duquesne is Spiritan; and the University of Notre Dame is affiliated with the Congregation of Holy Cross—not to be confused with the College of the Holy Cross, which is Jesuit.
Locally, Catholic University is "independent," and Trinity Washington University has officially ended affiliation with the Church.
But by far, the largest group of Catholic institutions identifies as Jesuit. There are 28 Jesuit colleges and universities located in every corner of the country, including Georgetown and Loyola University of Maryland, in the DC area.
Using data from the National Center of Educational Statistics (NCES), the following is a ranking of all US Jesuit colleges by size of undergraduate population:
1. Saint Louis University (11,159)
2. Loyola University Chicago (10,077)
3. Boston College (10,076)
4. Marquette University (8081)
5. Fordham University (7950)
6. Georgetown University (7461)
7. Loyola Marymount University (5833)
8. Regis University (5586)
9. University of San Francisco (5521)
10. Saint Joseph’s University (5403)
11. Santa Clara University (5200)
12. Gonzaga University (4729)
13. Seattle University (4306)
14. Xavier University (4228)
15. University of Scranton (4154)
16. Creighton University (4133)
17. Fairfield University (3886)
18. Loyola University Maryland (3757)
19. Canisius College (3196)
20. University of Detroit Mercy (3149)
21. John Carroll University (2987)
22. College of the Holy Cross (2932)
23. Le Moyne College (2784)
24. Loyola University New Orleans (2764)
25. Saint Peter’s College (2412)
26. Rockhurst University (2120)
27. Spring Hill College (1310)
28. Wheeling Jesuit University (1086)
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Great post. My parents and I have been looking at Catholic colleges in PA lately. I have been in Catholic school my whole life and I want to continue going to a Catholic school even though my parents gave me the option to go to any college I wanted to. Thanks so much for sharing Nancy, this is very helpful.
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