The College of the Holy Cross is a private Jesuit liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded by educators Benedict Joseph Fenwick and Thomas F. Mulledy in 1843 under the auspices of the Society of Jesus. Holy Cross was the first Catholic college in New England and is among the oldest Catholic institutions of higher education in the US.
Holy Cross is a four-year residential undergraduate institution with approximately 3,000 students. Students choose from 64 academic programs, including interdisciplinary and self-designed majors in liberal arts disciplines. The college's 174-acre (70-hectare) campus is situated on a hill overlooking the Blackstone River and Worcester. It has one of the largest financial endowments of any liberal arts college in the United States, and is one of the academically competitive Hidden Ivies. In 1986, Holy Cross joined the Patriot League, where its athletic teams compete as the Crusaders in NCAA Division I.
Notable graduates of Holy Cross include recipients of Emmy, Grammy, Academy, and Tony awards; 5 Rhodes Scholars, 5 Marshall Scholars, 6 Truman Scholars, Goldwater Scholars and Watson Fellows; Pulitzer Prize winners, a Nobel Prize laureate, U.S. Senators, and Olympic athletes. Other notable alumni include Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and U.S. Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas. The college is a top producer of Fulbright scholars, having graduated 182 grantees.
