Founded in 1942, Fairfield University is a Jesuit and Catholic University that is rooted in one of the world's oldest intellectual and spiritual traditions. Fairfield prepares graduate students for leadership and service in a constantly changing world through broad intellectual inquiry, the pursuit of social justice, and cultivation of the whole person: body, mind, and spirit. Students choose Fairfield because of its integrated approach to learning which results in graduates who are intellectually prepared and adaptable to face the ever-changing issues of the 21st century.

With its main campus located in the coastal town of Fairfield, Connecticut, the University's 210-acre campus is just one hour outside New York City, in the heart of a region with the largest concentration of Fortune 500 companies in the nation. Fairfield's graduate programs are also offered at our additional locations in Mystic, Connecticut, Austin, Texas, and Shanghai, China in addition to being offered online and in low-residency formats. Fairfield has a student population of approximately 7200 students: 5700 undergraduates and 1500 graduate students. Fairfield is also home to 20 Division I athletic teams, and more than 150 student clubs and organizations. A significant achievement for Fairfield University is that over 70 graduates have been tapped as Fulbright scholars since 1993. Students represent 42 states, Puerto Rico, Washington, D.C., and 50 countries, and are enrolled in the University's five schools: the John Charles Meditz College of Arts and Sciences, the Charles F. Dolan School of Business, the School of Education and Human Development, the School of Engineering and Computing, and the Marion Peckham Egan School of Nursing and Health Studies.

As a doctoral institution, Fairfield is committed to a graduate education that builds critical thinking skills, links theory and practice, and grounds itself in applied learning. Fairfield is proud to offer a wide range of opportunities for research, internships, service, civic engagement, and personal enrichment through 48 master's degree programs and 8 doctoral programs, including its distinctive research and practice doctorates. Fairfield’s doctoral programs are career-centered, academically rigorous programs in which students conduct applied, problems-based research with opportunities to explore challenges of social justice within their chosen fields. Graduates are prepared to be effective leaders in their profession, playing key roles as change agents. Fairfield's practice doctorates (DNP, DCN) are grounded in licensed clinical practice coupled with coursework and research focused on direct-patient and population-level care. Fairfield's research doctorates (EdD, DBA, and DrPH) are Master’s-entry, cohort-based, three-year programs in which students complete advanced coursework while working with academic advisors to research a specific problem of practice within their field.    

When considering an applicant for admission, Fairfield looks at measures of academic achievement, students' curricular activities, their life skills and accomplishments, and the degree to which they have an appreciation for Fairfield's mission and outlook. Students are challenged to be creative and active members of a community in which diversity is encouraged and honored.

Fairfield University has developed a unique educational model to ensure that students receive the motivating guidance they need to reach their fullest potential. Fairfield's graduate faculty get to know their students as individuals and encourage them to develop and follow their passion through internships, clinical experiences, volunteer and research opportunities, and a course of study that deepens and expands their knowledge. Full integration of all learning opportunities helps students discern how they want to put their gifts and education to work in the world.