,·Private (Catholic, Sisters of Mercy)·Est. 1932
“A Sisters of Mercy Catholic university where small classes, signature health-professions programs, and a women-led legacy meet a now-coed undergraduate community.”
The University of Saint Joseph (USJ) is a small private Catholic university in West Hartford, Connecticut, founded in 1932 by the Sisters of Mercy of Connecticut as the Hartford area's first college for women. Its 84-acre suburban campus, designed by the Olmsted Brothers, sits in the leafy residential heart of West Hartford — about ten minutes from downtown Hartford and well within reach of New York and Boston. The Mercy heritage still shapes the institution: development of the whole person, compassionate service, hospitality, and multiculturalism are written into the core values, and students of all faiths are welcomed alongside the Catholic intellectual tradition. USJ remained a women's undergraduate college for 86 years before the Board of Trustees voted in 2017 to admit men, and the first coed undergraduate class arrived in fall 2018. Today the undergraduate program is fully coeducational while women's leadership programming and the original mission to educate women continue to anchor campus life. With under 1,000 undergraduates and roughly 960 graduate students, classes stay small and faculty advising is personal — the kind of environment international students often look for as a softer landing than a large research university. Academically, USJ is best known for its health professions: a distinctive three-year accelerated Doctor of Pharmacy (the only accelerated PharmD in Connecticut), a Physician Assistant Studies program with a 100% first-time PANCE pass rate seven years running, and well-regarded Nursing programs from the BSN through the Doctor of Nursing Practice. Education, social work, and the arts and sciences round out a liberal-arts-plus-professional model. Athletically, the Blue Jays compete in NCAA Division III's Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC), and the men's basketball program drew national attention when Hall of Famer Jim Calhoun launched it in 2018.
Visa, OPT, H-1B alumni outcomes, and acceptance rates by country — sourced from FOIA, USCIS H-1B Hub, and DHS SEVIS.
Regional Universities North
US News Best Colleges 2026
Top Performers on Social Mobility — Regional Universities North
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Test Optional — You can submit scores if they help your case, but they're not required.
Official SourceEarly Decision
Binding
Early Action
Non-binding
Regular Decision
Rolling admissions; decisions issued ~2 weeks after the file is complete
The deep admissions playbook beyond the headline acceptance rate — round-by-round breakdowns, nationality data, requirements, and contact paths.
Tuition & Fees (All Students)
$48,689
/yr
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.
Home to USJ's signature health-professions doctoral programs, including Connecticut's only three-year accelerated PharmD and a PA Studies program with a long streak of perfect first-time PANCE pass rates. Strong emphasis on experiential learning in fully equipped pharmacy and clinical labs.
Offers nursing education from the traditional BSN through the MSN and Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), plus post-graduate APRN certifications. Clinical placements span Hartford-area hospitals and community health settings.
Houses the liberal arts and pre-professional core — psychology, biology, English, history, accounting, business administration, and the university's well-regarded education programs (early childhood, elementary, special education).
Covers nutrition, exercise science, public health, and other health-allied undergraduate and graduate degrees that feed into USJ's broader health-professions ecosystem.
Grounded in the Sisters of Mercy commitment to service, offering BSW and MSW programs with an emphasis on social justice, equity, and community-based practice.
3 years
USJ's signature program and the only accelerated PharmD in Connecticut. Students earn the PharmD in three calendar years (vs. the traditional four), getting into the workforce a year earlier through a modified-block curriculum and intensive experiential rotations in community, clinical, industry, and research pharmacy.
2.5 years
Highly competitive PA program with a 100% first-time NCCPA PANCE pass rate seven years in a row — a consistency that places USJ among the strongest PA programs in the Northeast. Combines didactic coursework with extensive clinical rotations across Connecticut health systems.
4 years
Four-year traditional BSN with strong NCLEX outcomes, simulation-lab learning, and clinical placements at Hartford HealthCare, Saint Francis Hospital, and other regional partners. A clear pathway to USJ's MSN and DNP programs for students who want to continue into advanced practice.
Where alumni go after graduation — top industries, grad-school continuation, and the qualitative outcomes story.
Sticker price (annual, out-of-state): $47,278
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.
