Facts About NU

Niagara University is one of three Vincentian universities in the United States.   The others, St. John's in New York and DePaul in Chicago, are the two largest Catholic universities in the nation.

Niagara's enrollment of about 3,600 students is comprised of about 2,700 undergraduates and about 800 graduate students.

There are four major academic divisions:  the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Business Administration, the College of Education, and the College of Hospitality & Tourism Management.  The university is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools and programs in nursing, education, social work, chemistry and hotel and restaurant administration hold major national accrediations.

Founded as a seminary in 1856, Niagara was chartered as a university in 1883.

Niagara's 24,000 alumni, more than a quarter of whom are in Western New York, fill the ranks of every major profession, including those of business, industry, medicine, law, education, travel/tourism, and hospitality.

Reflecting its long athletic tradition, Niagara has produced several national sports figures, including NBA coaches Frank Layden, Hubie Brown, Larry Costello, and Basketball Hall-of-Fame member Calvin Murphy.

Located atop the rugged water-carved Niagara River gorge, the university is just four miles from the famed cataracts of Niagara Falls, N.Y.  The well-maintained suburban campus, an attractive blend of 19th and 20th century architecture, overlooks the Province of Ontario.  Buffalo, less than a half-hour south, and Toronto, less than 90 miles north, each have major metropolitan airports,  An excellent network of roads and rail service facilitate travel throughout the region.  The cost-of-living index in the Buffalo/Niagara Falls metropolitan area is ranked among the 10 lowest areas in the nation.

Western New York and Southern Ontario offer a variety of cultural, entertainment, and recreational options.  Professional football, baseball, lacrosse, soccer and hockey are played in Toronto and Buffalo and two nearby Great Lakes, Erie and Ontario, offer sailing and prime sport fishing. 

With a yearly average temperature of 48 degrees and an average summer-time temperature of 70 degrees, Niagara County is warmer in the winter than Boston or Philadelphia and has more sunlight during the summer than Boston, New York, Philadelphia or Washington, D.C.   Protected by its location from the extremes of lake-effect storms, the county's average annual snowfall is substantially less than Buffalo.