Sacred Heart’s sports teams are known as the Pioneers, because SHU was the first Catholic University started by lay people, so it’s not affiliated with a specific religious order (for example Georgetown is Jesuit; Notre Dame is Order of the Holy Cross). Sacred Heart has 5000 undergrads, and about half of them are Catholic. While students here are required to take a few religion courses, the only mandatory one is called Catholic Intellectual Traditions; students have options among other philosophy and theology courses to fulfill this requirement. You’re more likely to feel the impact of the religious connection at Sacred Heart University in the amount of community service that students perform here.
Sacred Heart University has Division 1 sports and competes in the Northeastern Conference. There’s lots of school spirit around football and basketball, and many students participate in competitive club academics and intramural sports. There is a small Greek system, with about 5 sororities and 7 fraternities. There are no Greek houses, and you definitely don’t have to be in a house to partake in the social life here. Students here are very involved in the many activities, and even though the majority of students are from the Northeast, most students do not go home most weekends.
Nursing and the health sciences are strong at Sacred Heart University; there’s a new facility called the Center for Health Care Education about a quarter mile from the main entrance. Nursing is highly competitive, with admitted students having an average SAT of 1200 and a 3.65 unweighted GPA.
The new Business and Communications building is immaculate, with spacious, natural light-filled classrooms and lounge spaces. The building is home to the Jack Welch College of Business, where students enjoy state-of-the-art facilities with Bloomberg terminals and a stock ticker. Business students are required to have st least one internship, and many (MANY!) Fortune 500 companies are located not far from campus – Stamford (CT) is a few train stops away and New York City is about an hour and a half, and some students do take advantage of this proximity.
Sacred Heart University recently acquired the former GE headquarters. The new ‘West Campus’ will be walking distance from new residence halls, the new athletic center under construction, and the recently-opened new diner. Sacred Heart University is definitely growing, both in their campus infrastructure as well as the number of students.
Sacred Heart University is not one of those schools that works hard to keep you out. In fact, the admission counselor with whom I met told me they are looking for SAT scores near 1100 and a 3.0 GPA, but a little below will get you a solid look, and improved grades in the first semester of senior year will definitely help. There’s no supplemental essay. Sacred Heart has great merit scholarships, and the total cost of attendance, including room and board, is about $57k.
An invitation to the Honors program will get you a $2000 scholarship as well as priority housing in Bergoglio Hall (known as “the Berg”), the first building on a US college campus named for Pope Francis.
Evelyn visited Sacred Heart University in March, 2018, and you can scroll through all of her photos below.