History
Sacred Heart University was founded in 1963 by the Most Reverend Walter W. Curtis, Bishop of the Diocese of Bridgeport. It was established to provide an affordable, quality education at a Catholic university. From its outset, the University bore the mark of innovation. Charting a new direction within American Catholicism, the University was to be led and staffed by the laity, as an independent Catholic University. Signs of the University’s growth and vibrancy are evident. The enrollment has risen from the original class of 173 students to more than 8,500 full- and part-time undergraduate and graduate students in the fall of 2017. Correspondingly, the faculty has increased from nine to 264 full-time professors and a cadre of dedicated affiliate faculty members. The University has grown and enhanced the undergraduate student experience in several other ways. In 1990, it accepted for the first time students who wanted the “residential” experience. It now has 11 residence halls, and 66 percent of full-time undergraduate students live in University housing. New degree programs and majors in relevant disciplines are consistently added to our curriculum. The University offers Division I athletics with 32 varsity teams. The expansive William H. Pitt Health and Recreation Center is available to all students and the community at large. Recognizing the importance of technology, Sacred Heart University recommends that all undergraduate students have a laptop computer. The University campus is a wireless environment. The University consists of five colleges: College of Arts and Sciences, Jack Welch College of Business, Isabelle Farrington College of Education, College of Health Professions, and College of Nursing. An ever-widening outreach to the community balances the University’s commitment to academic excellence. The Center for Spirituality and Ministry educates men and women for pastoral, administrative, catechetical and other Church ministries. Closer to home, hundreds of students, faculty and staff volunteer their services in the community each year. The Center for Strategic Planning for Not-for-Profit Organizations provides business assistance to qualified groups at no cost. Through the Sacred Heart University–St. Charles Health and Wellness Center, faculty and students from nursing, occupational therapy, physical therapy, psychology, occupational therapy and related disciplines bring the assets of contemporary healthcare practices and services to an at-risk population in the multicultural communities of St. Charles Church and neighborhood on Bridgeport’s East Side. For more than 50 years, the administration, faculty, staff, and students have been proud to carry on the founder’s vision and support the University’s mission.