About Notre Dame de Namur University

Why Consider Notre Dame de Namur University?

Both as an education institution and a community resource, Notre Dame de Namur University has served its surrounding community for more than 165 years. It deeply values diversity, community service, and offering education in a meaningful, spirited way. NDNR’s programs and curricula are informed by its Catholic roots and the problems and challenges our world faces today. Here are some great reasons to consider attending Notre Dame de Namur:

Notre Dame de Namur Ranking

In 2018, U.S. News ranked Notre Dame de Namur University #32 in Best Value Schools and #41 (tie) in Regional Universities West. The school received an overall score of 44/100.i

Class Size and Faculty at Notre Dame de Namur University

The average class size at NDNU is 17 with a student to teacher ratio of 11 to 1. Of the school’s full-time teaching faculty, 98 percent hold a doctoral or terminal degree in their subject. Overall, NDNU has 208 teaching faculty, 105 full-time equivalent faculty, and 159 part-time faculty. Its library has three full-time library faculty available to on-campus and online students.ii

Notre Dame de Namur Athletics

Despite being a smaller school (with 1,691 total students in fall 2016), NDNU has varsity sports teams for men and women in basketball, cross-country, soccer, and track and field. Men also have golf and lacrosse teams, and women have softball, tennis, and volleyball teams. NDNU athletics are NCAA Division II teams and play in the Pacific West Conference. The Notre Dame de Namur University Values NDNU has seven hallmark characteristics or dedications developed by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur in collaboration with SNC learning communities. These hallmarks inform and influence the school’s identity, learning environment, and community:

1. We proclaim by our lives even more than by our words that God is good.
2. We honor the dignity and sacredness of each person.
3. We educate for and act on behalf of justice and peace in the world.
4. We commit ourselves to community service.
5. We embrace the gift of diversity.
6. We create community among those with whom we work and with those we serve.
7. We develop holistic learning communities which educate for life.

The Notre Dame de Namur University Catholic Identity Statement

For students interested in pursuing advanced education at a Catholic school, the NDNU Catholic Identity Statement might inspire their attendance. Three sources inspire NDNU’s character:

• The charism of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, with its spirit of goodness, justice, hope and service to humanity, which encourages us to provide access for the underserved in our society;
• Catholic Social Teaching, which insists that human institutions and relationships be based on a recognition of the dignity of all human beings and demands social and economic justice for all; and
• the Catholic Intellectual Tradition, which celebrates the compatibility of faith and reason and welcomes an open and free dialogue among persons of differing religious and intellectual traditions.

Consistent with its character, NDNU strives to create a community of respect, active and vibrant conversation, and openness to a wide variety of opinion and belief.