The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a private research university located in Notre Dame, Indiana. It was founded by Father Edward Sorin, CSC, who was also the school's first president. Founded as an all-male institution, it became co-educational in 1972. The school's Catholic origins are evident around campus with the ornate Basilica of the Sacred Heart, Indiana together with numerous chapels and religious iconography.The Notre Dame student body consists of 11,603 students, with 8,352 undergraduates and 3,251 graduate and professional students.
The university is organized into five colleges and one professional school, the oldest of which awarded degrees as early as 1849.
Notre Dame is rated among the nationâ??s top 25 institutions of higher learning in surveys conducted by U.S. News & World Report, Princeton Review, Time, Kiplingerâ??s and Kaplan/Newsweek.
