The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; NOH-tər-DAYM; ND) is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. The university was founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Catholic religious order of priests and brothers. Its main campus covers 1,261 acres (510 ha) in a suburban setting and has landmarks such as the Golden Dome main building, Sacred Heart Basilica, the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, the Word of Life mosaic mural, and Notre Dame Stadium.
Notre Dame is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research spending and doctorate production". In the 2025–2026 academic year 13,042 students attended Notre Dame, making it the eighth largest Catholic university in terms of enrollment in the U.S. The university is organized into seven schools and colleges: College of Arts and Letters, College of Science, Notre Dame Law School, School of Architecture, College of Engineering, Mendoza College of Business, and Keough School of Global Affairs. Notre Dame's graduate program includes more than 50 master, doctoral and professional degrees offered by the seven schools.
The university's athletic teams are members of the NCAA Division I and are known collectively as the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame is noted for its football team, which contributed to its rise to prominence on the national stage in the early 20th century. Notre Dame teams in other sports, chiefly in the Atlantic Coast Conference, have won 17 national championships.
Between 1952 and 1987, Theodore Hesburgh's administration increased the university's resources and improved its academic programs and its reputation. Its network of alumni consists of 151,000 members.
Stephen Badin, the first priest ordained in the United States, had come to northern Indiana after an invitation extended by Potawatomi chief Leopold Pokagon to minister to his tribe, and Badin bought the 524 acres (212 ha) of land in 1830 that became the university's campus. In 1842, bishop Célestin Guynemer de la Hailandière of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Vincennes offered the land to Edward Sorin of the Congregation of Holy Cross on the condition that he build a college in two years. Sorin arrived on the site with eight Holy Cross brothers from France and Ireland on November 26, 1842 and began the school using Badin's old log chapel. After enrolling two students, Sorin erected more buildings, including the Old College, the first church, and the first main building. Notre Dame began as a primary and secondary school; in 1844 it received its official college charter from the Indiana General Assembly, under the name of the University of Notre Dame du Lac (University of Our Lady of the Lake). The university was originally all-male; the Sisters of the Holy Cross founded the female-only Saint Mary's College near Notre Dame in 1844.
The college awarded its first degrees in 1849. As it grew under the presidency of Sorin and his successors, new academic programs were offered and new buildings built to accommodate the growing student and faculty population. The brief presidency of Patrick Dillon (1865–1866) saw the original main building replaced with a larger one that housed the university's administration, classrooms, and dormitories. Under William Corby's first administration, enrollment at Notre Dame increased to over 500 students. In 1869, he opened the law school, which offered a two-year course of study, and in 1871 he began construction of Sacred Heart Church, today the Basilica of the Sacred Heart. Two years later, the president Auguste Lemonnier started a library in the Main Building that had 10,000 volumes by 1879.
However, fire destroyed the Main Building and the library collection in April 1879; the school closed immediately and students were sent home. Rebuilding began on May 17, and the third and current Main Building was completed before the fall semester of 1879. The library collection was likewise redeveloped.
The presidency of Thomas E. Walsh (1881–1893) focused on improving Notre Dame's scholastic reputation and standards. At the time, many students came to Notre Dame only for its business courses and did not graduate. Walsh started a "Belles Lettres" program and invited notable lay intellectuals like writer Maurice Francis Egan to campus. Washington Hall was built in 1881 as a theater, and the Science Hall (today the LaFortune Student Center) was built in 1883 to house the science program (established in 1880) and multiple classrooms and science labs. The construction of Sorin Hall saw the first freestanding residence hall on campus and one of the first in the country to have private rooms for students, a project championed by Sorin and John Zahm. During Walsh's tenure, Notre Dame started its football program and awarded its first Laetare Medal, one the earlist such honors bequesthed by a Catholic university in the United States. The Law School was reorganized under the leadership of William J. Hoynes (dean from 1883 to 1919), and when its new building was opened shortly after his death, it was renamed in his honor.
John Zahm was the Holy Cross Provincial for the United States from 1898 to 1906, with overall supervision of the university. He sought to modernize and expand Notre Dame by erecting buildings and adding to the campus art gallery and library, amassing what became a famous Dante collection, and pushing Notre Dame toward becoming a research university dedicated to scholarship. The congregation did not renew Zahm's term, fearing he had expanded Notre Dame too quickly and had run the order into serious debt. In particular, his vision to make Notre Dame a research university was at odds with that of Andrew Morrissey, president from 1893 to 1905, who had hoped to keep the institution a smaller boarding school. Morrissey's presidency remained largely focused on younger students and saw the construction of the Grotto, the addition of wings to Sorin Hall, and the erection of the first gymnasium. By 1900, student enrollment had increased to over 700, with most students still following the Commercial Course.
The movement toward a research university was championed subsequently by John W. Cavanaugh, who modernized educational standards and dedicated himself to the school's academic reputation and to increasing the number of students awarded bachelor's and master's degrees. As part of his efforts, he attracted many eminent scholars, established a chair in journalism, and introduced courses in chemical engineering. During his time as president, Notre Dame rapidly became a significant force on the football field. In 1917, Notre Dame awarded its first degree to a woman and its first bachelor's degree in 1922. However, female undergraduates were uncommon until 1972. James A. Burns became president in 1919 and following in the footsteps of Cavanaugh, he oversaw an academic revolution that brought the school up to national standards by adopting the elective system and moving away from the traditional scholastic and classical emphasis in three years. Notre Dame continued to grow, adding more colleges, programs, residence halls, and sports teams. By 1921, with the addition of the College of Commerce, Notre Dame had grown from a small college to a university with five colleges and a law school.
President Matthew Walsh (1922–1928) addressed the material needs of the university, particularly the $10,000 debt and the lack of space for new students. When he assumed the presidency, more than 1,100 students lived off campus while only 135 students paid for room and board. With fund-raising money, Walsh concentrated on the construction of a dormitory system. He built Freshman Hall in 1922, Sophomore Hall in 1923, and began construction of Morrissey, Howard and Lyons Halls between 1924 and 1925. By 1925, enrollment had increased to 2,500 students, of which 1,471 lived on campus; faculty members increased from 90 to 175. On the academic side, credit hours were reduced to encourage in-depth study, and Latin and Greek were no longer required. In 1928, three years of college were made a prerequisite for the study of law. Walsh expanded the College of Commerce, enlarged the stadium, completed South Dining Hall, and built the memorial and entrance transept of the Basilica.