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The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a
public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...
land-grant A land grant is a gift of real estate—land or its use privileges—made by a government or other authority as an incentive, means of enabling works, or as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service. Grants ...
research university A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are "the key sites of Knowledge production modes, knowledge production", along with "intergenerational ...
system with its main campus in
Storrs, Connecticut Storrs ( ) is a village and census-designated place (CDP) in the New England town, town of Mansfield, Connecticut, Mansfield in eastern Tolland County, Connecticut, United States. The village is part of the Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, ...
, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, the school became a public
land grant A land grant is a gift of real estate—land or its use privileges—made by a government or other authority as an incentive, means of enabling works, or as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service. Grants ...
college, then took its current name in 1939. Over the following decade, social work, nursing, and graduate programs were established. During the 1960s,
UConn Health UConn Health is a healthcare system and hospital, and branch of the University of Connecticut that oversees clinical care, advanced biomedical research, and academic education in medicine. The system is funded directly by the State of Connecticut ...
was established for new medical and dental schools. UConn is
accredited Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...
by the
New England Commission of Higher Education The New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE) is a voluntary, peer-based, non-profit membership organization that performs peer evaluation and accreditation of public and private universities and colleges in the United States and othe ...
. With more than 32,000 students, the University of Connecticut is the largest university in Connecticut by enrollment. The university is
classified Classified may refer to: General *Classified information, material that a government body deems to be sensitive *Classified advertising or "classifieds" Music *Classified (rapper) (born 1977), Canadian rapper * The Classified, a 1980s American ro ...
among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". UConn is one of the founding institutions of the
Hartford Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...
- Springfield regional economic and cultural partnership alliance known as
New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...
's
Knowledge Corridor Knowledge is an awareness of facts, a familiarity with individuals and situations, or a practical skill. Knowledge of facts, also called propositional knowledge, is often characterized as true belief that is distinct from opinion or g ...
. UConn was the second U.S. university invited into
Universitas 21 Universitas 21 (U21) is an international network of research-intensive universities. Founded in Melbourne, Australia in 1997 with 11 members, it has grown to include twenty-nine member universities in nineteen countries and territories. The uni ...
, an international network of research-intensive universities. The school's athletic teams compete in the
Big East Conference The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...
as the Huskies. UConn has gained notable recognition for its
women's A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional uteruses ...
and men's basketball programs and are often considered "
blue bloods ''Blue Bloods'' is an American police procedural drama (film and television), drama television series that aired on CBS from September 24, 2010, to December 13, 2024, across 14 seasons and 293 episodes. Its main characters were members of the fi ...
" in the sport. The Connecticut Huskies are the top women's basketball program in the nation, having won a record 12 NCAA Division I National Championships (most in both men's and women's Division I college basketball) and a women's record four in a row (2013–2016), in addition to over 40 conference regular season and tournament championships. Across all sports, the Huskies have collectively won 26
NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...
championships.


History

UConn was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School. It was named after
Charles and Augustus Storrs Charles Storrs (January 24, 1822 – September 1, 1884) and Augustus Storrs (June 4, 1817 – March 3, 1892) were American business partners and brothers who played a key role in establishing the Storrs Agricultural School (now the University of ...
, brothers who donated the land for the school as well as initial funding. The
Storrs Agricultural Experiment Station The Storrs Agricultural Experiment Station (SAES) is an American agricultural experiment station operated by the University of Connecticut and founded in 1887. Part of UConn's College of Agriculture, Health, and Natural Resources, the SAES direc ...
was founded in 1887. Women began attending classes in 1891 and were officially admitted in 1893, the same year that it became Connecticut's land-grant college and was renamed Storrs Agricultural College. In 1899, the name changed again to Connecticut Agricultural College, and, in 1933, to Connecticut State College. In its current form, the College of Agriculture is the oldest of the university's colleges and professional schools. On May 26, 1939, Governor Raymond E. Baldwin signed the bill that allowed Connecticut State College to have its name changed to the University of Connecticut. The following year, trustees organized and developed a plan to divide the university into separate schools and colleges in Business, Education, Home Economics, Colleges of Arts and Sciences, and College of Agriculture. This was also the year the School of Social Work and School of Nursing were established. Master's degrees had been awarded since 1920, but the Graduate School was established after the reorganization of the schools in 1940, as well as the Doctoral Program for graduates which was authorized in 1943.
PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
s have been awarded since 1949. The schools of law and pharmacy were also absorbed into the university. In 1958, the School of Education established the first high school in the town of Mansfield,
E. O. Smith High School E. O. Smith High School, (or E.O. Smith) named after a member of Connecticut's legislature and former University of Connecticut president Edwin O. Smith, is a secondary school located in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. E.O. Smith was establi ...
, as a
laboratory school A laboratory school or demonstration school is an elementary or secondary school operated in association with a university, college, or other teacher education institution and used for the training of future teachers, educational experimentatio ...
for teacher training and education research. The high school, which lies adjacent to campus, was operated by the University of Connecticut until 1987, when it became the regional public high school. E.O. Smith has maintained an Agricultural Science education program since its time as a part of UConn, and junior and senior high school students may take classes for credit on UConn's campus. During the 1970s, UConn Health was established in Farmington as a home for the new
School of Medicine A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, professional school, or forms a part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, ...
and School of Dental Medicine.
John Dempsey Hospital UConn Health is a healthcare system and hospital, and branch of the University of Connecticut that oversees clinical care, advanced biomedical research, and academic education in medicine. The system is funded directly by the State of Connecticut ...
opened in Farmington in 1975 and has been operated by UConn ever since. In 1995, a state-funded program called UConn 2000 was passed by the
Connecticut General Assembly The Connecticut General Assembly (CGA) is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is a bicameral body composed of the 151-member House of Representatives and the 36-member Senate. It meets in the state capital, Hartford. The ...
and signed into law by then-
Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
John G. Rowland John Grosvenor Rowland (born May 24, 1957) is an American former politician, author, and radio host who served as the 86th governor of Connecticut from 1995 to 2004. Rowland served three terms representing Connecticut's 5th congressional distri ...
. This 10-year program set aside $1 billion to upgrade campus facilities, add faculty, and otherwise improve the university. An additional $1.3 billion was pledged by the State of Connecticut in 2002 as part of a new ten-year improvement plan known as 21st Century UConn. An agreement was reached in 2012 to launch Jackson Laboratory's $1.1 billion genomic medicine lab on the Farmington UConn Health campus as part of the Bioscience Connecticut initiative. In 2013,
Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
Dannel P. Malloy Dannel Patrick Malloy (; born July 21, 1955) is an American politician who served as the 88th governor of Connecticut from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he chaired the Democratic Governors Association from 2016 to 2017. In Ju ...
signed into law Next Generation Connecticut, committing $1.7 billion in funding over a decade to enhance UConn's infrastructure, hire additional faculty, and upgrade STEM initiatives.Next Generation Connecticut.
NextGenCT. University of Connecticut, n.d. Retrieved July 20, 2013.
Two U.S. presidents have visited the Storrs campus during their term of office,
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
in 1995 and
Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...
in 2021, to dedicate the first and second iterations of the Dodd Center for Human Rights, respectively. The Dodd Center has brought an array of other world figures to the campus including
Madeleine Albright Madeleine Jana Korbel Albright (born Marie Jana Körbelová, later Korbelová; May 15, 1937 – March 23, 2022) was an American diplomat and political science, political scientist who served as the 64th United States Secretary of State, United S ...
,
Elie Wiesel Eliezer "Elie" Wiesel (September 30, 1928 – July 2, 2016) was a Romanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, List of Nobel Peace Prize laureates#1980, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor. He authored Elie Wiesel bibliogra ...
,
Oscar Arias Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer J ...
, and
Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet and Russian politician who served as the last leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...
. Presidents
Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. (born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was the 38th president of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, Ford assumed the p ...
and
George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...
visited the campus after leaving office.


Campuses


Storrs campus

The primary and original UConn campus is in Storrs, a division of the Town of Mansfield, east of
Hartford Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...
, Connecticut's capital, and bordered by the towns of Ashford,
Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...
, Willington, and Windham. The campus is easily accessible from nearby thoroughfares
US Route 6 U.S. Route 6 (US 6) or U.S. Highway 6 (US 6), also called the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, honoring the American Civil War veterans association, is a main route of the United States Numbered Highway System. While it ...
in Windham and Interstate 84 in Connecticut, Interstate 84 in Tolland.


Libraries

The University of Connecticut Libraries form the largest public research collection in the state. The main library is the Homer D. Babbidge Library, on Fairfield Way in the center of campus. In 1882, Charles Storrs donated the first volumes to the university library collection (specifically, of the agriculture school). The university formerly housed its primary library collections in the Old Whitney building, one of the first agriculture school buildings. The library migrated from Old Main to the basement of Beech Hall in 1929. The university's first librarian was Edwina Whitney, who served from 1900 to 1934. The library then moved to the Wilbur Cross Building and remained there until the 1970s. The current main library, Homer Babbidge, was formerly known as the Nathan Hale Library. It underwent renovations completed in 1998; at the time it was the largest public research library in New England. The Storrs campus is also home to the university's Music and Pharmacy libraries, and the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center, home to the university's archives and special collections. Each of the regional campuses also have their own libraries. These libraries are tied into the Babbidge library through a shared catalogue. The Babbidge-based collection places UConn among the top 30 universities in the nation for library holdings and funding, containing more than 2.5 million print volumes, approximately 2,500 current print periodicals, more than 35,000 journals through the eJournal locator, 2.8 million units of microfilm, 180,000 maps at the Map and Geographic Information Center (New England's largest public map collection), millions of electronic books, and an array of free electronic information sources. The UCL also license approximately 265 electronic search databases, many of which contain the full-text of research journals, monographs, and historic documents. The Lyman Maynard Stowe Library, housed at UConn Health, was one of eight federally funded National Network of Libraries of Medicine libraries from 1991 to 2001. The University of Connecticut School of Law houses the School of Law Library at its campus in Hartford. The Stowe and Law libraries have catalogues separate from the Babbidge system, making the total library holdings of the University of Connecticut much higher than the 2.5 million print volumes of Babbidge. UConn participates in several outside library consortia, including the New England Law Library Consortium and the Northeast Research Libraries Consortium. The Dodd Research Center has also formed a partnership with the African National Congress to share materials with South African scholars.


Campus

The UConn campus at Storrs is home to the Connecticut Repertory Theatre (CRT) run by the Department of Dramatic Arts. The theatre complex has three venues, the 486-seat Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre, the 241-seat Nafe Katter Theatre, and the 116-seat Studio Theatre. CRT is a member of the Theatre Communications Group, the national service organization for the professional theatre. The Storrs campus also houses the J. Louis von der Mehden Recital Hall, the William Benton Museum of Art, and the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry. In the 1960s, drama students from UConn participated in Theatre on Tour, which was an initiative to bring dramatic performances to "bring live drama to grass-roots theatre fans" across New England. They performed ''Lady Windermere's Fan, Lady Windemere's Fan'', for instance, at Hotchkiss School in 1968. UConn is the only institution in the United States that offers a master's degree in puppetry. Among the research facilities on campus is the George Safford Torrey Life Sciences Building. Built in 1961, in 1980 the building was named in honor of the former head of the botany department. The Torrey Life Sciences Building houses offices for the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, the Department of Physiology and Neurobiology, the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, and Biology Central Services. Because it is situated in a fairly rural area, the UConn campus has facilities that allow it to be virtually self-sufficient. All heat on campus is steam, and where possible sidewalks were laid over the underground connectors to keep the snow off. In 2005, a cogeneration plant was activated, which generates most of the electricity for the campus, and uses the exhaust steam for the campus central heating system. The university owns its own public water system and waste water treatment facility. With the support of local industry, UConn is also developing and using fuel cell technology. In April 2012, UConn commissioned a fuel cell power plant at its Depot Campus that will supply the campus with clean and efficiency energy, cooling and heating. The installation of a Clearedge power, ClearEdge Power, formerly UTC Power, PureCell System was made possible through a federal stimulus grant from Connecticut's Coalition for Green Capital, Clean Energy Finance and Investment Authority (now the Connecticut GreenBank). The University of Connecticut Police Department is a fully functional police agency with the same statutory authority as any municipal police department in the State of Connecticut. State and internationally accredited, the department is responsible for protecting lives and property at the University of Connecticut and all adjacent areas within the jurisdiction of the UConn Police Department. This includes the main campus in Storrs and the regional campuses. The UConn Division of Public Safety also includes the UConn Fire Department, and Office of the Fire Marshal and Building Inspectors. UConn campuses are equipped with a blue-light system which allows students to press an emergency button which will notify the police to come to that location. Next Generation Connecticut is a multi-faceted $1.5 billion plan to build the state's economic future through strategic investments in science, technology, engineering, and math disciplines (STEM). It passed the Connecticut General Assembly and was signed into law by Governor Dannel Malloy in 2013. The funds will be used over a 10-year period to hire 250+ new faculty, increase undergraduate enrollment by 6,580 students, and upgrade aging campus infrastructure. Money has also been allocated to build new STEM facilities, construct new STEM teaching laboratories and to create a premier STEM honors college. NextGenCT will also allow for the construction of student housing and a digital media center at the Stamford campus, and allow for the relocation of the Greater Hartford campus back to downtown Hartford.


Avery Point campus

UConn's Avery Point campus overlooks Long Island Sound in the town of Groton, Connecticut, Groton. It is home to the National Undersea Research Center, the Connecticut National Sea Grant College Program, Sea Grant College, Project Oceanology, the Long Island Sound Resource Center, and the Alexey von Schlippe Gallery of Art. The campus has undergone a transformation in recent years, including new Marine Science and Project Oceanology buildings, a new research vessel, and renovations of the Branford House, the gymnasium, and the main Academic Building. The campus was formerly the summer home of Morton Freeman Plant, a 19th-century railroad, steamship, and hotel magnate. Branford House was his mansion overlooking Long Island Sound, completed in 1904. The estate included what is now the Shennecossett Public Golf Course, which was turned over to the State of Connecticut in the 1930s. During World War II, the remaining portion of the Plant estate was leased to the Coast Guard as a training center, and the Avery Point Light was built. It was later converted into the University of Connecticut at Avery Point.


Stamford campus

In 1951, the University of Connecticut began offering extension courses at the former Stamford High School to provide education for GIs returning from the Korean War. In the fall of 1952, the university formally established a regional campus in Stamford. Upon inception, UConn's Stamford Campus offered five courses — English, Mathematics, History, Speech, and Sociology, and enrolled 21 part-time students. A newly constructed UConn Stamford Campus opened in 1962 on Scofield Town Road, and a separate library building was added in 1974. Also in the mid-1970s, the academic program was expanded to provide a four-year degree in several fields of study. In 1990, planning began for a new UConn Stamford Campus in the heart of downtown Stamford. One of the first UConn 2000 building projects, the new campus opened in 1998, offering a variety of academic programs including undergraduate and graduate degrees. The contemporary glass-enclosed campus features a high-tech approach to learning with internet access in classrooms, laboratories, student amenities and public spaces. Design for the new UConn building was led by Aaron Schwarz, then of Perkins Eastman. In August 2017, UConn's first-ever permanent residence hall for students outside the Storrs campus was opened at Stamford. The six-story, 116 unit building is intended to house 290 students.


Hartford campus

In August 2017, UConn formally opened its new campus in downtown Hartford, after nearly 40 years in neighboring West Hartford. The new campus is located within Hartford's Front Street neighborhood—a portion of the Adriaen's Landing project. The centerpiece of the new campus is the historic Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts, which had been the former headquarters of the ''Hartford Times''. UConn Hartford offers a wide range of liberal arts and sciences courses and degrees to over 1,400 undergraduate and more than 600 graduate students. Due to the UConn Hartford's proximity to the State Capitol and legislative offices, the university's School of Public Policy is based at the Hartford campus. The University of Connecticut's School of Social Work, established in 1948, sits alongside the University’s Hartford Campus. Located at Constitution Plaza in downtown Hartford, the UConn School of Business Graduate Business Learning Center offers three MBA programs as well as graduate degree programs and graduate certificate programs.


Waterbury campus

In 1942, the University of Connecticut was invited to Waterbury at the request of a group of citizens, headed by the Waterbury YMCA. Named the Waterbury Extension Center, it offered primarily certificate-granting technical courses taught at the YMCA for 253 students who were mostly of returning veterans looking for an affordable and easily accessible means of earning and education. Gradually, as the demand for courses grew, and enrollment increased, certain facilities at Leavenworth High School were used. Each semester about a dozen undergraduate courses were offered and a sizeable non-credit program was added. Four years later in the fall of 1946, the local Advisory Committee, working with the local Board of Education, secured the Begnal School on Charles Street. In addition to the facilities on Charles Street, the Central YMCA allocated some space in their building for evening classes. The enrollment during this period increased to 662 students in the fall of 1947 and the establishment of an accredited, full-time undergraduate program, at the newly designated Waterbury Branch of the University of Connecticut. In August 2003, the Waterbury campus moved to a new 95,000 square foot downtown campus. The U-shaped, three-story building at the intersection of East Main Street and Phoenix Avenue was designed to serve more than 1,200 students, faculty and staff, replacing the collection of buildings and houses that has served the Waterbury campus for decades. The new facility was dedicated on October 9, 2003. In January 2016, UConn Waterbury dedicated the newly renovated St. Patrick's Hall also known as the Rectory as the newest addition to its campus. The Rectory Building added two floors of classroom and office space with the fourth floor of the building serving as both a classroom and event space. The University of Connecticut's Waterbury, Connecticut, Waterbury campus serves more than 1,000 students annually and offers nine four-year undergraduate degrees.


Torrington campus

The University of Connecticut at Torrington, Connecticut, Torrington, founded in 1957, was closed in May 2016 due to low enrollment numbers.


Jackson Laboratory

In January 2012, Governor Malloy announced that Jackson Laboratory (JAX) had reached an agreement to launch a $1.1 billion genomic medicine laboratory on the campus of UConn Health. The laboratory is an independent, nonprofit biomedical research institution based in Bar Harbor, Maine. According to the agreement, Jackson Laboratory will enter into a collaborative research agreement with UConn Health and will create at least 300 positions within 10 years, 30 percent of total employees being senior scientist positions. Once fully developed, the facility is projected to employ 600 scientists and technicians. The state of Connecticut has approved $291 million of the total capital and research budget; Jackson Laboratory will raise the balance of $860 million through federal research grants, philanthropy, and service income.


Academics

The University of Connecticut is
accredited Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...
by the
New England Commission of Higher Education The New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE) is a voluntary, peer-based, non-profit membership organization that performs peer evaluation and accreditation of public and private universities and colleges in the United States and othe ...
.


Undergraduate

Students at UConn can pursue over 100 majors, eight undergraduate degrees, 17 graduate degrees and five professional degree programs. Students choose from 87 different academic minor, minors at UConn, including areas of study not offered as formalized majors. UConn participates in the New England Board of Higher Education's Regional Student Program (NERSP), allowing students from the five other New England states to enroll at the university at a reduced out-of-state Tuition payments, tuition rate if their intended Academic major, major is not offered by one of their in-state universities. The university also participates in a special guaranteed admissions program with the Connecticut Community Colleges (CCC) that is designed for academically qualified students who are attending a Connecticut community college and who are planning to transfer to the University of Connecticut in Liberal Arts & Sciences, College of Agriculture, Health, and Natural Resources, Agriculture, Health & Natural Resources, Business, or Engineering. Each year, more than 1,000 transfer students are admitted to the university.


Undergraduate admission, retention, and graduation

, of the entering freshman at the main campus, 54% ranked in the top tenth of their high school class and 89% in the top quarter. UConn's retention rate is among the best for public universities in the nation, with 93% of students returning for their wiktionary:sophomore, sophomore year. UConn ranks third out of 58 public research universities on basis of graduation time, with the average time to graduate being 4.2 years among those who graduate within 6 years.


Graduate and postgraduate

Bachelor's, master's, and doctoral programs are offered through the University of Connecticut College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, College of Agriculture, Health, and Natural Resources, the Graduate School, the Neag School of Education, the School of Nursing, the University of Connecticut School of Business, School of Business, the University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine, School of Dental Medicine, the
School of Medicine A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, professional school, or forms a part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, ...
, the University of Connecticut School of Engineering, School of Engineering, the School of Social Work, the Ratcliffe Hicks School of Agriculture, the School of Pharmacy, the University of Connecticut School of Law, School of Law and the School of Fine Arts. Founded in 1921, the University of Connecticut School of Law is accredited by the American Bar Association and is a member of the Association of American Law Schools. The campus is located just outside the downtown core of Hartford, minutes away from the Connecticut State Capitol, state courts and agencies, and the offices of Hartford's law firms and corporations. Law students have ready access to all of these institutions for study, externships, clinical education, practice, and employment. The campus is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Its Gothic revival, gothic-style buildings, constructed in 1925 (except for the new library, which was completed in 1996), housed the Hartford Seminary until 1981. The law school has approximately 325 students and a student:faculty ratio of 4.1:1. UConn Law has repeatedly been ranked the top public law school in
New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...
by ''U.S. News & World Report'', and was most recently in 2020 ranked 52nd of American law schools. There are four scholarly journals edited on campus: the ''Connecticut Law Review,'' the ''Connecticut Public Interest Law Journal'', the ''Connecticut Insurance Law Journal'', and the ''Connecticut Journal of International Law''.


Research

According to the National Science Foundation, UConn spent $269 million on research and development in 2018, ranking it 88th in the nation. In 2005, UConn ranked 64th in terms of R&D expenditure.


Rankings and reputation

*The university was ranked tied for 23rd among public universities in the U.S. and tied for 63rd among national universities in 2021 by ''U.S. News & World Report''. * ''Kiplinger's Personal Finance'' named UConn the 33rd best value in public higher education for 2019 (26th on the basis of out-of-state tuition). * The University of Connecticut was among the top 10 producers of Fulbright Program, Fulbright Scholars from research institutions in 2017. * The 2015 Sierra Club "Cool Schools" list of environmentally responsible universities ranked UConn eighth in the U.S.


Student life


Student organizations

There is a wide variety of student organizations on campus, including fraternities and sororities, musical groups, and religious, athletic, political, cultural, business, military, artistic, and community service clubs. The university's daily student-run newspaper, ''The Daily Campus'', is one of the longest continually-published college newspapers in the nation and serves as the primary news source for students and the greater campus area. WHUS, WHUS FM 91.7, UConn's student-run radio station, serves a similar function providing entertainment programming. Multiple organizations program student-focused events through funding obtained from student fees, including an undergraduate student government and a group of students who host events at the school's student union. Since 2003, UConn has established university-owned Greek housing in the "Husky Village," created an Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life, and hired full-time staff to administer a Greek Life program.


Symbols

Until 1933, the mascot of UConn had been the "Aggies", because of the university's original agricultural nature. In 1933, the university changed its name from Connecticut Agricultural College to Connecticut State College. To reflect this change, athletic teams were then known as the "Statesmen". In December 1934, the Husky was chosen as the mascot. Jonathan the Husky, the school's mascot, is portrayed both as a traditional anthropomorphic character at athletic and student events and by a real Siberian husky dog. Jonathan received his name as part of a student newspaper poll in 1935 after Jonathan Trumbull, the last colonial governor of Connecticut. The school's fight song, officially titled "UConn Husky" was written by Herbert A. France. It is one of the most recognizable in the country, played by the University of Connecticut Marching Band, Pride of Connecticut, UConn's marching band, during the school's sporting events. Many of UConn's athletic events are nationally broadcast, owing to the song's recognizability. A later version of the song was arranged by UConn music professor Dr. David Maker.


Traditions

The main UConn campus is also home to a "spirit rock", which has been painted to promote student events and ideologies since the 1940s. The current rock is a portion of a much larger outcropping that was originally located across from the North Campus quadrangle and removed for construction of the Life Sciences building in 1958. In subsequent years, it was put into storage during the UCONN 2000 construction program and later re-located in 2008, 2013 and 2024. UConn officials measured the paint's depth with a small drill in fall 2018 and determined 1.25 inches of paint had accumulated on the rock since it was placed on that site in 2008. Student organizations regularly host annual events, including concerts, pep rallies, guest speaker engagements, and social events like "One Ton Sundae" wherein students receive free scoops from a large quantity of ice cream.


Community and tourism

The town of Mansfield's "downtown" area developments have been popular with UConn students, nearby residents, and visitors. Developed as a long-term construction project in the early 2000s, the "downtown" area is designed to be a mixed-use town center that includes retail shops, restaurants, offices, and housing. Current notable tenants include a Price Chopper (Northeastern United States), Price Chopper supermarket, restaurants, and a co-branded UConn book store operated by Barnes and Noble. Students are eligible for free in-state bus and rail transportation as part of the U-Pass program from the Connecticut Department of Transportation. Student groups also regularly organize excursion trips to local and regional destinations. The main university campus also includes attractions such as the Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts, the J. Robert Donnelly Husky Heritage Sports Museum, the William Benton Museum of Art, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry and the Connecticut State Museum of Natural History. The UConn Dairy Bar, an ice cream parlor and creamery attached to the school's agricultural program, has been operational since the 1950s and is often regarded as serving the state's best ice cream. It serves roughly 200,000 customers annually.


Campus safety

In 2014, the University of Connecticut and Brown University had the highest "total of reports of rape" on their main campus, with 43 each. A 2016 study showed, however, that rates of sexual violence at the university were lower than the national average.


Athletics

The University of Connecticut athletic teams are nicknamed the "Huskies" and compete at the
NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...
's Division I (NCAA), Division I level and in the Football Bowl Subdivision. UConn moved to the American Athletic Conference in most sports in 2013; the Huskies were a charter member of The American when it was founded in 1979 as Big East Conference (1979–2013), the original Big East Conference, and were the only remaining charter member of that league. In 2019, UConn accepted a formal invitation to join the
Big East Conference The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...
following a unanimous vote of the conference's members. The Huskies began playing in the Big East in the 2020–2021 season in all twenty sports except for football and men's/women's ice hockey. UConn men's ice hockey became a full member of Hockey East in 2014–15. The women's hockey team will remain in the Hockey East as well, as they were founding conference members in 2002 when the league began women's ice hockey competition. The football program will not be returning to the American Athletic Conference, AAC and will begin play as an FBS Independent starting in the 2020–2021 season. Regardless of football conference affiliation, the school has publicly committed to competing in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision for the foreseeable future. UConn is most well known for its men's and
women's A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional uteruses ...
basketball teams, both of which are considered among the best programs in the country with a combined total of 18 National Championships, the most combined from any program in NCAA history. The UConn Women's teams have won an NCAA record of 12 National Championships, with their most recent in 2025, cementing Head Coach Geno Auriemma as the winningest head coach in history in both wins and National Titles. Alongside the Women, the Men's teams have won 6 National Championships since 1999, going back to back in 2024 under the leadership of Head Coach Dan Hurley. UConn is the only Division I school to win the men's and women's basketball titles in the same year, and has done it twice: in 2004 and 2014. accolades have earned Connecticut the popular nickname "Basketball Capital of the World." The university elevated its football program to the Football Bowl Subdivision in 2002, although the school first fielded a team in 1896. UConn became the quickest program to go from FBS elevation to a Bowl Championship Series game when it played in the 2011 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. UConn has now played in a total of six bowl games. With the growth of the football program, in 2003 UConn football moved to 38,000-seat Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field, Rentschler Field in East Hartford, CT to host its home games. UConn's updated Husky logo, designed by Nike, has appeared on all athletic uniforms since the fall 2013 season.


Alumni

File:Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, official portrait.jpg, Miguel Cardona, 12th United States Secretary of Education File:Chris Murphy, official portrait, 113th Congress (cropped).jpg, Chris Murphy, U.S. Senator from Connecticut File:John Fetterman official portrait.jpg, John Fetterman, U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania File:Joe Courtney official photo (cropped).jpg, Joe Courtney (politician), Joe Courtney, U.S. Congressman File:Marilynn Malerba, U.S. Treasurer.jpg, Lynn Malerba, chief of the Mohegan Tribe and the 45th Treasurer of the United States File:Richard Mastracchio 2013.jpg, Rick Mastracchio NASA astronaut File:Changdiaz.jpg, Franklin Chang-Díaz, NASA astronaut and founder of Ad Astra Rocket Company File:John H. Durham.jpg, John Durham, former Special Counsel for the United States Department of Justice, USDJ, former District of Connecticut, CT United States Attorney File:Brett McGurk MSC 2017 (cropped).jpg, Brett McGurk, U.S. National Security Council, National Security Council Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa File:Meg Ryan 2009 portrait.jpg, Meg Ryan, actress File:Ray Allen 161208-A-HE359-046 (31482070191).jpg, Ray Allen, former professional basketball player File:Nobel Laureate David Morris Lee in 2007.jpg, David Lee (physicist), David Morris Lee, Nobel laureate File:Bob Diamond - World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2012.jpg, Bob Diamond (banker), Bob Diamond, banker and former chief executive officer of Barclays File:Scott Case in 2011.jpg, Scott Case (business), Scott Case, entrepreneur and founder Priceline.com File:Turkish prime minister Tansu Çiller in Brussels.jpg, Tansu Çiller, 22nd Prime Minister of Turkey File:Molly Qerim at ESPN First Take live at Luke Air Force Base.jpg, Molly Qerim, television personality and a host of ESPN's ''First Take (talk show), First Take'' File:Austin Stowell-DolphinTale (cropped).jpg, Austin Stowell, actor known for his role in ''Dolphin Tale'' File:Sue Bird at 2 August 2015 game cropped.jpg, Sue Bird, former professional basketball player File:Richard Hamilton 180422-D-SW162-1588 (27762040388) (cropped).jpg, Richard Hamilton (basketball), Richard Hamilton, former professional basketball player File:Bobby Moynihan.jpg, Bobby Moynihan, comedian File:George Springer in 2017 (36077792615).jpg, George Springer, professional baseball player File:Moby 12 17 2018 -16 (31743191557).jpg, Moby, musician File:Nangolo Mbumba (cropped).jpg, Nangolo Mbumba, 4th president of Namibia, 2nd vice president of Namibia File:Dan Orlovsky.JPG, Dan Orlovsky, football analyst for ESPN and former professional football player


See also

*''Long River Review'', University of Connecticut's literary review magazine *University of Connecticut Historic District, a historic district encompassing the historic core of the Storrs campus *UConn Lumpy, UConn ''Lumpy'', a student-built airship, flown in 1975 at the Storrs soccer field.


Notes


References


External links

*
UConn Athletics website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Connecticut, University Of University of Connecticut, Universities and colleges established in 1881 Land-grant universities and colleges Mansfield, Connecticut Public universities and colleges in Connecticut, University of Connecticut Universities and colleges in Tolland County, Connecticut Flagship universities in the United States 1881 establishments in Connecticut