Mission and History

Sacred Heart University was founded in 1963 by the Most Reverend Walter W. Curtis, second bishop of the Diocese of Bridgeport, to provide an institution of higher education that would serve the people of the diocese and region, regardless of sex, race, creed or religion. In October 1962, Bishop Curtis announced both the plan to open a college the following September, and its name, “Sacred Heart.” The choice of the name had a dual origin: it was the name of the bishop’s first pastorate in Bloomfield, N.J., and was a pledge from the bishop attesting to the value of such an institution.

 
Signs of the University’s growth and vibrancy are evident. Enrollment has risen from the original class of fewer than 200 undergraduate students to almost 10,000 full-time and part-time undergraduate and graduate students. Over the years, Sacred Heart has grown to become the second-largest Catholic university in New England and, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education, one of the fastest-growing Catholic Universities in the country.

The University has enhanced the undergraduate student experience in many notable ways. In 1990, it accepted, for the first time, students who wanted the residential experience. Now approximately 93 percent of first-year students and 57 percent of all undergraduates reside in University housing.

New degree programs and majors in relevant disciplines are regularly added to our curriculum, and the University now offers more than 80 undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and certificate programs on its main campus in Fairfield, Conn., and satellites in Stamford, Luxembourg and Ireland. The University consists of six colleges and three schools: College of Arts & Sciences, School of Communication & Media Arts, School of Computing, School of Social Work, the AACSB-accredited Jack Welch College of Business, College of Health Professions, the Susan L. Davis, R.N., & Richard J. Henley College of Nursing, St. Vincent’s College and Isabelle Farrington School of Education. The Princeton Review includes SHU in its Best 385 Colleges–2020 Edition, “Best in the Northeast” and Best 252 Business Schools–2019 Edition. Sacred Heart is home to the award-winning, NPR-affiliated radio station, WSHU, and an impressive performing arts program that includes choir, band, dance and theater.

The University offers Division I athletics with 32 varsity teams. The William H. Pitt Athletic and Convocation Center is available to D-1 athletes for training. The state-of-the-art Bobby Valentine Health and Recreation Center is open to all students and includes a suspended track, bowling lanes, a climbing wall and much more.


The campus currently comprises more than 300 acres of land, including The Great River 18-Hole Golf Course and the former global headquarters of General Electric, which is now SHU’s West Campus. West Campus houses the College of Education and the College of Business, including the School of Computing & Engineering and the new hospitality, resort and tourism program. West Campus is an innovative campus with a maker space for engineering students and incubator space where business students can work with local business people on projects.

An ever-widening outreach to the community balances the University’s commitment to academic excellence. More than 1,500 students, faculty and staff members volunteer in excess of 100,000 hours of community engagement each year.