Fighting Irish Initiative

The Fighting Irish Initiative ensures a Notre Dame education for all—awarding students who achieve excellence despite difficult circumstances with the resources to experience all facets of the Notre Dame undergraduate experience.

The Fighting Irish Initiative welcomes future leaders who are committed to giving back to society and making a positive impact on the world. They are often the first in their families to attend college and have demonstrated great promise in the face of challenging circumstances. Most have overcome nearly insurmountable obstacles to gain admittance to Notre Dame on their own merits. The Initiative covers the full cost of attendance for these students, including tuition and fees, room and board, books and supplies, and personal expenses. 

Providing a home for The Fighting Irish means offering them the resources they need to take advantage of all facets of the Notre Dame undergraduate experience—resources that many students often take for granted. The Fighting Irish Initiative not only provides for their basic needs, but also helps bridge the most apparent disparities they face as they live among, study, and socialize with classmates from different socioeconomic backgrounds. Such resources range from routine needs, like warm winter clothing and a laptop computer, to help with travel home for breaks, study abroad program expenses, and tickets to join their classmates at athletics and other events.

The Fighting Irish Initiative also provides a range of enrichment programming customized to help these students acclimate and adjust to their new lives at Notre Dame. Programming includes pre-matriculation orientation, connection with a host family, strong peer mentorship, and financial acumen and budgeting classes, among many other opportunities. 

This Initiative ensures that every generation of "The Fighting Irish" always has a home at Notre Dame.