Established in 1852, Loyola College is the oldest chartered College in Baltimore and the ninth oldest of the 28 American Jesuit collegiate foundations. It was the first such institution to bear the name of Society of Jesus founder St. Ignatius Loyola.
Loyola College was established to fill the void arising when the clientele of St. Mary's Seminary was restricted to candidates for the priesthood. The Jesuits of the Maryland Province were called upon and accepted the opportunity to offer a liberal education to the young Catholic laity of Baltimore as well as a wider circle. Here, as has been customary at Jesuit colleges, the doors were open to all who sought an excellent education.
Father John Early and eight of his Jesuit confreres began enrolling students on Sept. 15, 1852. Classes continued at Holliday Street in downtown Baltimore until 1855, when construction was completed on property at Calvert and Madison streets, a location still referred to in Baltimore as "The College." With little room fo rexpansion, Loyola was forced to move to the Evergreen Campus, its current home in North Baltimore, after six decades. On July 1, 1971, Loyola merged with Mount St. Agnes College, a nearby college for women under the auspices of the Sisters of Mercy, to become coeducational.
Today, still affiliated with the Catholic Church, students from all religious backgrounds continue to be welcomed. The enrollment, which numbers 3,132 undergraduates and more than 6,000 Students overall, is exposed to a liberal arts core curriculum with majors and minors offered in 31 academic fields. Degrees offered include Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering Science and Bachelor of Business Administration.
A fully credited institution, Loyola features a faculty consisting of 221 full-time and 206 part-time instructors, 89 percent of whom hold Ph.Ds in their respective fields, giving the institution a manageable 14:1 student-teacher ratio. Over the past five years, Loyola's placement rate, including graduate, medical, and law schools, has ranged between 90 and 95 percent within nine months of graduation.
Loyola's Evergreen Campus, which spans 65 wooded acres, is situated in North Baltimore's well established Guilford neighborhood, of the most charming residential areas of the city. A recent purchase of adjacent land to the north of the current campus will allow for substantial expansion in the next several years. The college is approximately five miles, a short 10- to 15-minute drive, from the world famous Baltimore Inner Harbor, which features the best in cultural activities, shopping and night life - not to mention Oriole Park at Camden Yards, the Baltimore Arena, a soon-to-be-completed professional football stadium and an extraordinary number of educational and employment opportunities. Also within a short drive are such historical sites as Fort McHenry, birthplace of The Star Spangled Banner, the Washington Monument and the Baltimore Museum of Art. And Washington D.C. is a reasonable 35-mile jaunt south on I-95.
The liberal arts tradition is strong at Loyola. The requirements are extensive, comprising more than half of the typical for year program. Loyola's philosophy of education emphasizes career and graduate school development along with personal growth. The liberal arts program can help students improve their universal on-the-job skills - clear thinking and effective expression. Loyola's curriculum is rigorous, and the faculty's expectations are high, with the aim being to challenge students to develop their skills and abilities. The college admits students who have been ambitious in their high school course selection and who have shown they can do solid academic work.
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