Fairfield University

Private · Selective · CT

Photo: Zeete (CC BY-SA 4.0)

School data & stats

TypePrivate

LocationCT · Northeast

SettingSuburban

Undergrads5,373

Student:faculty12:1

Outcomes

4-yr grad rate81.8%

6-yr grad rate84.3%

Drop-out rate8.7%

Study abroad—

Cost

In-state tuition$58k

Out-of-state tuition$58k

Application fee—

Community

Racial diversity20.7%

Gender diversity57.8%

International1.9%

IdentityRoman Catholic

Overview

Fairfield is a Jesuit university on a leafy coastal Connecticut campus, about an hour from New York City, with a genuinely polished, preppy identity that shows up in everything from dress to social life. The Jesuit core curriculum grounds every student in philosophy, theology, and the liberal arts regardless of major — a structured, values-oriented approach distinct from an open curriculum — while the Dolan School of Business and the nursing programs are the strongest professional draws on campus.

Academics

Business and nursing are the standout programs, both benefiting from strong regional employer connections across the New York and Connecticut corridor and both admitting students who are typically serious about the field from the start. The Jesuit core requires broad exposure to humanities, ethics, and theology coursework alongside a student's major — a defining structural feature rather than a handful of general-education boxes to check. Class sizes stay small across most majors, with faculty who know students by name well past introductory courses.

Campus & student life

A beach neighborhood near campus is a well-known senior-year tradition, with many seniors moving into off-campus beach houses as a rite of passage. Stags basketball draws real school spirit, and the overall culture is polished, social, and reasonably preppy, reinforced by Jesuit values of service, reflection, and community that show up in retreats and service trips as much as in the classroom. Most underclassmen live on campus, giving the earlier years a more traditional residential feel before the beach-house shift.

Getting in

Fairfield's process is holistic, and the Jesuit mission and service orientation show up directly in essay prompts and in what the school says it values in applicants beyond grades — reflection, service, and character alongside academic strength. Business and nursing applicants often face more selective, program-specific review than the university-wide numbers suggest, since those schools admit somewhat separately from the College of Arts and Sciences.

After graduation

Business and nursing graduates place strongly into the New York metro job market, aided by genuine proximity for internships and a dense regional alumni network in finance, accounting, and healthcare. Recruiting pipelines from the Dolan School into New York finance and consulting firms are a real, well-established feature of the business program specifically.

Worth knowing

Proximity to New York City is a real asset for internships and recruiting, not just a marketing point, and students who want to build professional connections there should plan to use it actively. The senior beach-house tradition is a distinctive, well-established part of campus culture that shapes the last year meaningfully, both socially and in terms of housing cost and planning.

fairfield.edu ↗

Admissions

Acceptance rate33.3%

Enrolled mid-50%SAT 1260–1390 · ACT 29–32

Test policyoptional

Rec letters1

Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)

Early actionNov 1

Early decisionNov 15

Regular decisionJan 15

Applying (2026-27 cycle)

Apply through Common App.

Early decision IIJan 15

Financial aid formsJan 15

Early Action is non-binding, while Early Decision I and II require a binding commitment to enroll if admitted.

Interviews: Interviews are not required but are offered as a way to demonstrate interest in the university and get your questions answered.

Verified from the school’s admissions pages ↗