Fordham University

By James A. Barham, PhD

In brief

Fordham University is a Jesuit university in New York City, founded in 1841. Its original and main campus, Rose Hill, is in the Bronx. By our measure of academic influence, it ranks #86 in the United States and #238 in the world. It admitted 59.3% of applicants for fall 2024; admitted students had a median SAT score of 1400 and a median ACT score of 31.

Fordham also has campuses at Lincoln Center in Manhattan, in Westchester County, and in London. It is organized into four undergraduate schools, six graduate liberal arts and professional schools, and a School of Professional and Continuing Studies.

Where Fordham’s influence is strongest

Fordham’s influence is concentrated in religious studies, law, and philosophy, in keeping with its Jesuit tradition. Its strongest broad fields, by US rank in our data, are:

• Religious studies: #27 in the US (#115 in the world)
• Law: #35
• Philosophy: #51
• Business: #54
• Social work: #58

Within those fields, Fordham is a national leader in several specialties:

• #2 in the US: medieval studies (only Notre Dame ranks higher)
• #6: medieval philosophy
• #8: canon law

By comparison, Fordham sits further back in biology (#162), engineering (#164), and computer science (#167).

How we measure influence: these ranks come from the citations and recognition earned by a school’s faculty and alumni in each discipline, not from surveys or admissions statistics. See our methodology.

Notable people

Fordham’s Nobel laureate is the physicist Victor Hess. Fordham-connected figures include the media theorist Marshall McLuhan, the anthropologist Margaret Mead, the novelist Don DeLillo, the playwright Paddy Chayefsky, the suspense writer Mary Higgins Clark, the actors Denzel Washington and Alan Alda, Cardinal Avery Dulles, the 1984 vice-presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro, and President Donald Trump. Our full lists of Fordham’s most influential alumni and faculty appear below.

Frequently asked questions

Is Fordham hard to get into? Moderately. It admitted 59.3% of applicants for fall 2024; the middle half of admitted students scored 660–730 on the SAT reading section and 660–750 on math.

What does Fordham cost after financial aid? Tuition is $67,897 for 2025–26. The average net price for aided students with family incomes of $48,000–$75,000 was $35,706 in 2024–25; it ranged from about $30,300 for incomes of $30,000–$48,000 to $51,995 for incomes above $110,000.

How do Fordham graduates do? 80.9% of students who started in 2019 graduated within six years, and 89% of first-year students return for a second year. Ten years after starting college, former students had median earnings of $92,809.

What is Fordham best known for academically? By our influence data: religious studies, law, and philosophy, plus medieval studies, where only Notre Dame ranks higher in the US.