University of Notre Dame makes historic investment in affordability and access
The University of Notre Dame announced a historic expansion to its affordability and accessibility initiatives, becoming the first highly selective faith-based university in the United States to be need-blind for all students, both domestic and international. Notre Dame’s 18th President, Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., made this announcement during his address at his Inauguration Ceremony on Friday. In charting a course for Notre Dame, Father Dowd articulated the University’s unwavering commitment as the world’s leading Catholic research university to ensuring that a Notre Dame education should be affordable for all students.
Representing a historic financial aid commitment, Pathways to Notre Dame includes two significant initiatives: a new no-loan policy for undergraduate students, ensuring middle- and low-income families who are admitted will be able to afford attendance, and an expansion of its need-blind policy — an institutional commitment to not consider a student’s financial circumstances when deciding whether to admit them — to include both domestic and international students. Notre Dame is now one of only nine highly selective colleges and universities that have a need-blind admissions policy for all students.
“We want an undergraduate student body that reflects the rich diversity of the Catholic community in and beyond the United States, which requires a Notre Dame education be both accessible and affordable,” Father Dowd said. “We are profoundly grateful for the extraordinary generosity of those benefactors who have made it possible for us to take this important next step in ensuring that every student who is admitted will have the opportunity to attend the University, no matter their financial circumstances or where in the world they call home.”
“The University has throughout its history been committed to welcoming students from all walks of life and providing them with a distinctive Notre Dame education, one that seeks to educate the mind as well as the heart,” John B. Veihmeyer, chair of the Board of Trustees, said. “Today’s announcement will ensure that the University is able to carry forward this proud tradition in important new ways, welcoming students from across the U.S. and around the globe and creating an even more vibrant learning environment for all.”
Effective immediately, Notre Dame will not consider the financial situation of students or their families, domestic or international, in the application for admission. Student loans will not be a component of the financial aid offer for full-time first-year and transfer undergraduate students entering fall 2025; instead, that need will be met with gift aid. While Notre Dame will not include loans in financial aid packages, families may still elect to take out federal student or private loans.
“Pathways to Notre Dame reflects Notre Dame’s commitment to attracting students who seek academic excellence and have the desire, curiosity and zeal that is at the heart of a Notre Dame education,” Vice President for Undergraduate Enrollment Micki Kidder said. “These initiatives will remove barriers for talented and faith-filled students to flourish here, regardless of their families’ financial circumstances.”
“At Notre Dame, we are called to be seekers of truth, sustainers of hope and builders of bridges,” Father Dowd said. “By extending and expanding the opportunities we are able to offer students, we seek to prepare the next generation of capable, compassionate, ethical leaders for our communities, our nation and the world.”
Contact: Sue Ryan, executive director of media relations, 574-631-7916, sue.ryan@nd.edu
Originally published by news.nd.edu on September 13, 2024.
atLatest Research
- Notre Dame theologian to receive 2024 Ratzinger Prize from VaticanCyril O’Regan, the Catherine F. Huisking Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame, has been selected to receive the 2024 Ratzinger Prize in Theology, widely regarded as the most prestigious award in the field. Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state, will present the award to O’Regan and to sculptor Etsurō Sotoo during a ceremony at the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City on Nov. 22. Both winners will also have an audience with Pope Francis earlier that day.
- Four First-Year Students Named 2024-25 Murphy Fellows at Notre Dame Law SchoolNotre Dame Law School has announced the selection of four first-year law students—David Jordan, Maddie Kosobucki, Catherine Kolesar, and Jack McEnery—as the 2024-25 Murphy Fellows. Established in 2022, the Murphy Fellowship supports students who are interested in exploring the intersection of law…
- ND Expert Sean Kassen: Statement on first FDA-approved treatment for Niemann-Pick Type C diseaseToday, the FDA announced the first approved treatment for Niemann-Pick Type C (NPC) disease: an oral medication named Miplyffa (arimoclomol). Sean Kassen, director of the Ara Parseghian Medical Research Fund at the University of Notre Dame, said this represents the beginning of a new and hopeful era for NPC families.
- What Would You Fight For: Notre Dame psychologists combating America's mental health crisisAustin Wyman ’23 was young when the mental health crisis hit home. A struggling family member reached out to a provider for help, but with no immediately available appointments, the relative soon had a mental health episode. The situation ended in the death of two of Wyman’s family members, and left…
- Notre Dame to host conference on St. Thomas Aquinas, commemorating 800th anniversary of his birthTo commemorate the 800th anniversary of his birth, the University of Notre Dame will host a conference Sunday through Wednesday (Sept. 22-25) celebrating Aquinas’ enduring importance to contemporary cultural, philosophical and theological discussions. “Aquinas at 800: ‘Ad multos annos’” will be the largest conference of its kind, with more than 500 in-person attendees and more than 150 speakers.
- From Italy to South Sudan and back again: MGA graduate aims for peace through shuttle diplomacySince she first began working for the Rome-based Community of Sant’Egidio as an intern in 2021, Elizabeth Boyle MGA ’23 has boarded more flights to Juba, South Sudan than she has to her Long Island hometown in the United States. As an international relations officer for …