What are the pros and cons of attending Fairfield University

OK, I reread my sentence about engaged mentors and would like to soften it. Engaged professors of undergrads may not be exactly “rare,” especially among LACs, where undergrad teaching is paramount. However, I was struck by that Fairfield biology professor’s passion for her work and her students’ learning.

The last time I saw that level of fervor was in 1989 at the University of Chicago. That faculty member later won awards for teaching, several times. (Decades later, she now teaches at another famed school.) That level is rare.

As to “cons” at Fairfield–that depends. Fairfield town center is pleasant, with good shopping and access to beaches. If you want Manhatten, then it wouldn’t do. But as for safety and condition, it is one of the nicest college towns I ever saw.

Diversity is better found at Boston U or CUNY–a city; or SUNY or most any state school. Not many schools can be all things to all people, but I agree many ought to do better.

Fairfield does outreach. Their programs include to the needful nearby town of Bridgeport, where there’s a soup kitchen and homeless shelter that some Fairfield U students serve. It’s a Catholic school and takes service seriously, as it should.

The school also invites mission students from all over the world to study, including from the smallest inhabited island, where the currency is still made of stone.

You are not necessarily limited to white, upper-class suburbanites at Fairfield. However you’ll see plenty of those.