During his inauguration on September 13, 2024, as Notre Dame’s 18th President, Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., announced a historic expansion to Notre Dame’s commitment to affordability and accessibility.
Pathways to Notre Dame includes two significant initiatives: a new no-loan policy for undergraduate students, ensuring middle- and low-income families who are admitted will be able to afford attendance, and an expansion of its need-blind policy to include both domestic and international students. Notre Dame is now one of only nine highly selective colleges and universities that have a need-blind admissions policy for all students.
Effective immediately, Notre Dame will not consider the financial situation of students or their families, domestic or international, during the admissions process. Starting with the fall 2025 incoming class, financial aid offers for full-time first-year and transfer undergraduate students will not include loans; that need will be met through gift aid.
Notre Dame giving society members, as well as alumni, parents, and friends who make unrestricted gifts to the University, play a crucial role in keeping the dream of a world-class, Catholic Notre Dame education within reach for deserving students around the world.
“We are profoundly grateful for the extraordinary generosity of those benefactors who have made it possible for us to take this important next step in ensuring that every student who is admitted will have the opportunity to attend the University, no matter their financial circumstances or where in the world they call home,” Father Dowd said.
Thank you for your commitment to ensuring that a Notre Dame education is attainable to all admitted undergraduate students, regardless of background, socioeconomic status, or financial means. Through your love of and dedication to Notre Dame, you help empower talented, ambitious, mission-oriented students from around the world to pursue their dreams and become a force for good.
Learn more about the Notre Dame Pathways initiatives ›
Learn more about the role of need-blind admissions in expanding Notre Dame’s global reach ›