Fairfield University is a private, mid-sized Catholic Jesuit university located on a 200-acre coastal campus in Fairfield, Connecticut — about 60 miles northeast of Manhattan and 90 minutes by Metro-North commuter rail to Grand Central. Founded in 1942 by the Society of Jesus, Fairfield is one of the 27 Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States and shares the Ignatian tradition of cura personalis — care for the whole person — alongside Boston College, Georgetown, Loyola Marymount, and other Jesuit peers. With about 5,500 students total (4,400 undergraduates) across five schools and colleges, Fairfield offers small-college intimacy with a 12:1 student-faculty ratio while maintaining direct pipelines into the New York City finance, consulting, and media job markets. The university's academic identity is built around three nationally-recognized strengths: the Charles F. Dolan School of Business (AACSB-accredited; Finance, Marketing, and Business Analytics ranked among the top 20 in the US by The Princeton Review), the Marion Peckham Egan School of Nursing and Health Studies (one of the most popular majors at Fairfield, with consistently high NCLEX pass rates), and the Meditz College of Arts and Sciences. The Charles F. Dolan-funded business school sits in a state-of-the-art LEED-certified building with a Bloomberg-style trading lab, and Dolan students consistently land internships and full-time roles at JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, EY, and Deloitte. The School of Engineering is small but growing — a particular niche is its bioengineering and software engineering tracks. Fairfield Stags compete in NCAA Division I athletics in the MAAC conference, and the men's basketball team plays at the renovated Leo D. Mahoney Arena (opened 2022). For international students, Fairfield is a high-touch private with a small international community (~225 students from 56 countries) and a generous merit scholarship structure: ALL applicants — including international — are automatically considered for merit awards of $10,000-$30,000 per year (no separate application required, no test scores required). The university is test-optional, meets demonstrated need at high rates for domestic students (though aid for international students is limited and applying for need-based aid may affect admission), and offers a residential, tight-knit four-year undergraduate experience with guaranteed on-campus housing. The Connecticut shoreline location — Long Island Sound is a 5-minute walk from campus — and easy NYC access make Fairfield a strong fit for international students targeting Northeast US finance, consulting, and healthcare careers.
Visa, OPT, H-1B alumni outcomes, and acceptance rates by country — sourced from FOIA, USCIS H-1B Hub, and DHS SEVIS.
Test Optional — You can submit scores if they help your case, but they're not required.
Official SourceThe deep admissions playbook beyond the headline acceptance rate — round-by-round breakdowns, nationality data, requirements, and contact paths.
Beyond the sticker price — every named scholarship, the financial aid policy, need-aware notes, and a personalized net-cost estimate.
How life on campus actually feels — clubs, sports, traditions, housing realities, and how the school integrates with its city.
Fairfield's largest college by enrollment and the academic core of the Jesuit liberal-arts experience. Home to the natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, fine arts, and pre-health pathways. Strong feeder into Egan Nursing (via Pre-Nursing) and the School of Education (via 5-year BA/MA pathways).
AACSB-accredited business school in a LEED-certified building with a Bloomberg-style trading lab. Finance, Marketing, and Business Analytics ranked top-20 nationally by The Princeton Review; Accounting top-30. Tight pipeline into NYC finance and consulting. Active student-managed investment fund. Most popular non-Nursing major at Fairfield.
Nursing is Fairfield's #1 most popular undergraduate major. CCNE-accredited BSN with high NCLEX pass rates. Clinical rotations across major Connecticut and NYC-area hospital systems. Also offers MSN, DNP, and a Master of Public Health.
Small but growing ABET-accredited engineering school with niche strength in bioengineering and software engineering. Tight student-faculty ratios in the lab, with research-active faculty.
Five-year accelerated BA/MA pathway — graduates earn a master's in elementary, secondary, special education, or school counseling and qualify for Connecticut teacher certification in 5 years.
4 years
Top-20 undergraduate finance program (Princeton Review). Includes a Bloomberg-style trading lab, a student-managed investment fund, and active recruiting from JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, and KPMG. NYC location is the program's biggest career asset — most students intern in Manhattan.
4 years
STEM-designated business analytics undergraduate degree (qualifies international graduates for the 24-month STEM OPT extension). Combines statistics, programming (Python, R, SQL), data visualization, and business strategy. Strong placement into consulting (Deloitte, EY, Accenture) and Big Tech analytics roles.
4 years
CCNE-accredited four-year BSN with high NCLEX pass rates and direct pipelines into Yale-New Haven Hospital, Bridgeport Hospital, Stamford Health, and major NYC hospital systems. Most popular undergraduate major at Fairfield. Highly competitive — applicants should target a strong science GPA and demonstrate clinical exposure or shadowing.
4 years
ABET-accredited and STEM-designated. Combines engineering fundamentals with biology and pre-health preparation. Strong placement into medical-device companies, biotech, and graduate programs in biomedical engineering and medicine.
Where alumni go after graduation — top industries, grad-school continuation, and the qualitative outcomes story.
Sticker price (annual, out-of-state): $58,350
Net-cost estimate is US-resident-only — international applicants are typically excluded from need-based aid at most schools and should treat the sticker price as the planning baseline.
