Fairfield University
Fairfield, Connecticut | Admissions Phone: 203-254-4100
E-mail: admis@fairfield.edu | Website: www.fairfield.edu
ADMISSION
Admission Rate: 60%
Admission Rate - Men: 61%
Admission Rate - Women: 60%
EA Admission Rate: 61%
ED Admission Rate: 88%
Admission Rate (5-Year Trend): -10%
ED Admission Rate (5-Year Trend): +26%
% of Admits Attending (Yield): 16%
Transfer Admission Rate: 34%
# Offered Wait List: 3,287
# Accepted Wait List: 1,005
# Admitted Wait List: 11
SAT Reading/Writing (Middle 50%): 600-660
SAT Math (Middle 50%): 590-680
ACT Composite (Middle 50%): 26-30
Testing Policy: Test Optional
SAT Superscore: Yes
ACT Superscore: Yes
% Graduated in Top 10% of HS Class: 37%
% Graduated in Top 25% of HS Class: 77%
% Graduated in Top 50% of HS Class: 96%
ENROLLMENT
Total Undergraduate Enrollment: 4,177
% Part-Time: 5%
% Male: 40%
% Female: 60%
% Out-of-State: 72%
% Fraternity: Not Offered
% Sorority: Not Offered
% On-Campus (Freshman): 95%
% On-Campus (All Undergraduate): 73%
% African-American: 2%
% Asian: 3%
% Hispanic: 7%
% White: 76%
% Other: 2%
% Race or Ethnicity Unknown: 5%
% International: 4%
% Low-Income: 17%
ACADEMICS
Student-to-Faculty Ratio: 12:1
% of Classes Under 20: 41%
% of Classes Under 40: 98%
% Full-Time Faculty: 45%
% Full-Time Faculty w/ Terminal Degree: 93%
Top Programs
Accounting
Communication
English
Finance
Marketing
Nursing
Politics
Retention Rate: 90%
4-Year Graduation Rate: 78%
6-Year Graduation Rate: 81%
Curricular Flexibility: Less Flexible
Academic Rating: 
FINANCIAL
Institutional Type: Private
In-State Tuition: $47,650
Out-of-State Tuition: $47,650
Room & Board: $14,710
Required Fees: $700
Books & Supplies: $1,150
Avg. Need-Based Aid: $16,564
Avg. % of Need Met: 84%
Avg. Merit-Based Aid: $17,099
% Receiving Merit-Based Aid: 92%
Avg. Cumulative Debt: $38,596
% of Students Borrowing: 64%
CAREER
Who Recruits
1. FBI
2. Deloitte
3. Ipsos
4. McIntyre Group
5. TEKsystems
Notable Internships
1. Major League Baseball
2. PwC
3. Deutsche Bank
Top Industries
1. Business
2. Education
3. Finance
4. Sales
5. Operations
Top Employers
1. PwC
2. Deloitte
3. Morgan Stanley
4. UBS
5. EY
Where Alumni Work
1. New York City
2. Boston
3. Hartford, CT
4. Philadelphia
5. Washington, DC
Median Earnings
College Scorecard (Early Career): $72,100
EOP (Early Career): $69,900
PayScale (Mid-Career): $116,900
RANKINGS
Forbes: 135
Money: 139
U.S. News: 3, Regional North
Wall Street Journal/THE: 199 (T)
Washington Monthly: N/A
Inside the Classroom
If you’re seeking a high-caliber Catholic/Jesuit institution and don’t have the grades and test scores for Georgetown, Holy Cross, Boston College, or Fordham, say hello to a new friend named Fairfield University. This school may not have the national name recognition of its Jesuit brethren but, rest assured, this Connecticut university of 4,100+ undergraduates has its share of stellar students and no shortage of connections to the nearby corporate world of New York City, including many of Wall Street’s premier firms.
No matter which of the forty-seven majors you happen to be pursuing, a significant amount of time will be spent fulfilling the required Magis Core Curriculum, beginning with the Class of 2023. Totaling forty-five credits (15 courses), students must complete Introduction to Rhetoric and Composition and Introduction to Philosophy as well as coursework in math, history, religious studies, modern or classical language, and additional forays into the behavioral and social sciences, literature, natural sciences, and visual and performing arts. Business majors, of which there are many (stats to follow), take a whole extra set of mandated coursework including Calculus, Introduction to Microeconomics, and Introduction to Macroeconomics.
A 12:1 student-to-faculty ratio is fully felt in the classroom as courses average only twenty students per section. While 41 percent come in under that marker and only a smattering of sections contain forty+ students, the greatest number of courses have enrollments in the twenty to twenty-nine range. Each year 300+ faculty-directed undergraduate research projects are completed and shown-off at the university’s Annual Research and Creative Accomplishments Symposium. Study abroad programs have a 30 percent participation rate, and opportunities are available to travel to sixty sites across forty countries on five continents.
Fairfield is primarily known for its business program, which serves as a pipeline to many of the top financial/accounting/consulting firms in the country. A whopping 43 percent of degrees conferred are from the highly respected Dolan School of Business. Next in popularity are majors within the health professions (12 percent) and communication (9 percent)—both areas also receive high marks at Fairfield. Fulbright winners have trailed off in recent years, but the school has had as many as nine in a single year in the not-too-distant past. However, landing fellowships is rarely the postgraduate goal of this business-minded group.
Outside the Classroom
Housing is guaranteed for all four years, but just below three-quarters of students elect to live on the school’s 200-acres campus. Demographically, two things at Fairfield stand out. One, the lack of ethnic diversity is real— 77 percent of the class of 2022 identifies as white, and secondly, women make up 60 percent of the undergraduate population. As at many Jesuit institutions, Greek life doesn’t exist here, but there are plenty of social opportunities around; for many years Fairfield made appearances on top party school lists, but today it cracks prominent lists measuring schools with the happiest students and best quality of life. With twenty NCAA Division I teams boasting a combined forty-two NCAA tournament appearances in school history, Fairfield certainly has plenty of sports to offer. While the Stags’ fan base is quiet compared to a place like fellow Jesuit school Boston College, it is still significant that 10 percent of the student body are Division I athletes. There are over one hundred clubs and activities to enjoy, including twenty intramural sports and twenty-five club teams. Being just sixty miles from NYC is an advantage not only for networking but for weekend trips. Campus itself cannot unreasonably be assigned adjectives like “idyllic” and “stunning.” It’s location on the Connecticut coast turns the nearby beach into an extension of campus; in fact, 400 seniors each year live in beachfront homes and apartments.
Career Services
The Career, Leadership, and Professional Development (CLPD) staff at Fairfield is comprised of seven full-time employees who work in employer development, recruitment, and experiential learning and internship coordination. The 570:1 student-to-advisor ratio is only average compared to the schools featured in this guidebook, but that does not appear to prevent the CLPD staff from directly touching the lives of almost every student. The office hosts four career fairs per year, including general expos in the fall and spring and smaller affairs specific to nursing and law school. The most recent Fall Career Fair was attended by 123 employers and 745 students. Companies in attendance included EY, KPMG, Morgan Stanley, and Epsilon.
Events including mock interviews, job shadowing, industry nights, resume-writing workshops, and employer presentations occur on a regular basis. The Stags4Hire platform connects students with job opportunities and can help book on-campus interviews. An impressive 47 percent of Class of 2018 members reported that they found their first job through on-campus recruiting/interviewing opportunities during their senior year. Among that same cohort, 602 participated in internships, and 20 percent of 2018 grads cited that experience as directly leading to their first full-time employment opportunity. Taking full advantage of their proximity to NYC, Fairfield’s CLPD provides all of the internship and employment opportunities one could hope for.
Professional Outcomes
Fairfield’s Class of 2018 found its next destination within six months of graduating at a hard-to-beat 98 percent clip. Financial services was the most commonly entered industry (21.8 percent), followed by healthcare/nursing (18.2 percent), communications/marketing (17.3 percent), and science/biotech/technology (7.8 percent). Many major investment banks, accounting firms, and consulting companies employ large numbers of Fairfield alumni. For example, PwC, Deloitte, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan & Chase Co., EY, UBS, and Merrill Lynch all employ one hundred or more Stags, and Fairfield grads also have strong representation at IBM, Goldman Sachs, Citi, and Prudential. Thus, it’s no wonder that the average starting salary is a healthy $56,000, not including bonuses. Connecticut is not the primary destination for graduates. Rather, New York City attracts the greatest number of alumni with Boston second and Hartford a distant third.
A shade under 30 percent of 2018 grads enrolled directly in graduate or professional school. The breakdown of programs was as follows: business (42.5 percent), education (14.5 percent), arts and sciences (14.5 percent), engineering (10.7 percent), health care (7.5 percent), and law (7 percent). The university has produced roughly thirty graduates per year that go on to earn their degrees in medicine and dentistry. Medical schools where recent grads have been admitted include Johns Hopkins, Georgetown, and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Those headed to law school do so at a range of institutions that includes elite schools Fordham, Boston College, and Cornell. Graduate schools pursued and attended by Stag alumni run the gamut of selectivity, but those with high GPAs are in the running for a place in elite graduate institutions.
Admission
Applications to the Class of 2023 set a record for the school as over 12,300 lined up for the chance to become a Stag. The 11,361 applications Fairfield received for a place in the class of 2022 saw 60 percent admitted, still an unintimidating acceptance rate despite the school’s rising reputation. Fairfield is a test-optional school, but the vast majority of the 2018-19 freshman class did submit test scores with the SAT being the people’s choice. The mid-50 percent SAT range was 1190-1340 and the ACT range was 26-30. Thirty-seven percent finished in the top 10 percent of their high school class, 77 percent were in the top quartile, but almost 5 percent did not land in the top half, giving hope to late bloomers with some blemishes on their transcripts. The average GPA was 3.65, but plenty of students with lower GPAs received acceptance letters; in fact, 16 percent of accepted students had lower than a 3.25.
The four factors the committee lists as being of supreme importance are rigor of curriculum, GPA, recommendations, and the essay. On the next tier of still “important” factors are an interview, extracurricular activities, first-generation status, character/personal qualities, talent/ability, work experience, volunteer work, and demonstrated interest. It’s definitely a good idea to visit campus and interview in order to let the university know you are serious about attending. Fairfield only has a 16 percent yield rate, meaning that 84 percent of those accepted into the school do not ultimately enroll. Applying early decision is a good way to punch your ticket to campus as those going the ED route enjoyed an 88 percent acceptance rate.
Worth Your Money?
On the surface, Fairfield, being a not terribly selective, high-priced private school is an unlikely candidate for this guide. Yet, Fairfield succeeds where many others in its class fail. For one, thanks to generous merit and need-based aid, even parents in high-income brackets can expect to pay an average annual COA of $40k, which is $25k less than the sticker price. Parents in lower-income brackets receive commensurate discounts (90 percent of students receive some type of aid) and, with strong graduate outcomes and connections to major corporations, this university could make financial sense for students of all income levels, especially if they have business-related aspirations. However, it is worth noting that the average cumulative debt for Fairfield grads is higher than the national average.