Manhattan University
Manhattan University is a private, Catholic university in New York City, New York, US. Originally established in 1853 by the De La Salle Christian Brothers as an academy for day students, it was later incorporated as an institution of higher education through a charter granted by the New York State Board of Regents. In 1922, it moved from Manhattan to the Riverdale section of the Bronx, roughly north of its original location on 131st Street in Manhattanville.
History
Manhattan University was founded as the Academy of the Holy Infancy in 1853 by five French De La Salle Christian Brothers in a small building on Canal Street. When the need to expand forced them from Lower Manhattan, the college moved to 131st Street and Broadway, in the Manhattanville section of Harlem. The school's name was changed to Manhattan College when it received its state charter in 1863 from the Board of Regents, and moved to its present location in the Riverdale section of the Bronx in 1922 as it outgrew its facilities in Manhattanville. This is often the cause of some confusion as the college is located outside of Manhattan but still within the city limits of New York City. In 2024, the school changed its name to Manhattan University.The Riverdale campus housed both the College and a preparatory school for high school students, Manhattan College High School, also known as Manhattan Prep., manhattan.edu. Accessed March 13, 2025. The high school had team sports and was in the Catholic High School Athletic Association. Manhattan College High School closed in 1971., New York State Department of Education. Accessed March 13, 2025.
Originally exclusive to men, Manhattan University established a co-institutional, cooperative program with the College of Mount Saint Vincent in 1963. Later the pair became coeducational in 1973 and 1974, respectively. This partnership lasted until 2007. Since then, Manhattan University and the College of Mount Saint Vincent have operated as completely unaffiliated institutions.
In 2018, Thomas O'Malley donated $25 million, the largest donation in the institution's history. The institution's business school has since been renamed the O'Malley School of Business.
Declining enrollment and growing deficits (2023–present)
In late 2023 and early 2024, Manhattan College eliminated more than twenty major and minor programs and terminated over 25% of faculty due to persistent declining enrollment and increasing structural deficits. In late January 2024, faculty voted "no confidence" in the college's president. From 2020 to 2024, enrollment at Manhattan College decreased by over 30%. Manhattan merged three of the college's six schools, creating three new schools. The bond-rating agency Fitch Ratings downgraded the college’s outlook to negative in March 2024.In August 2024, Manhattan College officials announced that the college would be renamed Manhattan University; the renaming was intended to attract students.
Campus
Manhattan University occupies a relatively compact campus divided into a north and south campus in the residential Riverdale section of the Bronx. The North campus overlooks Van Cortlandt Park, and has as its focal point "the Quad", which sits at the center of the campus's four main buildings. Memorial Hall is the main entry onto campus and houses the office of the president as well as most of the other administrative offices on campus. Miguel Hall and De La Salle Hall are the main academic halls that border each side of the Quad. Miguel hosts the liberal arts department and classes, while De La Salle is primarily used by the O'Malley School of Business. The fourth side of the Quad is bordered by the Squeri Hall, which houses Smith Auditorium on the first floor and the Chapel of De La Salle and His Brothers on the second floor, which features a painting of De La Salle and Brothers behind the altar, a large performing area where musical events and concerts take place on the altar, a grand piano, and a pipe organ in the balcony.Thomas Hall, one of the institution's student life buildings, houses the offices of the dean of students, the student government, the musical ensembles, and others. Two of the institution's dining halls, Locke's Loft and Cafe 1853 are also located in Thomas Hall.
Kelly Commons, named after notable alumnus Raymond Kelly, is another student life building that was completed in 2014. It holds a Starbucks, a Marketplace, multiple different dining options, a state-of-the-art gym for student and faculty use, the Multicultural Center, halls for lectures and events, the student bookstore and the office for the student-run newspaper, The Quadrangle.
The O'Malley Library is a six-story structure that was joined with the previous library, the Cardinal Hayes Pavilion. Built on a hill, the new library was built directly next to and above the old one, essentially combining the two and creating more floors, while enhancing technology and adding group study spaces. The Office of Admissions is on the sixth floor of O'Malley.
Hayden Hall is on the east side of campus and houses the Kakos School of Science as well as the department of fine arts. The Kakos Center for Scientific Computing may also be found here, which contains a cluster of high performance workstations used for a wide variety of scientific and economic projects.
On the South campus, across 240th street, is the Higgins '62 Engineering and Science Center, which is connected to Leo Hall and the Research and Learning Center. The buildings are home to all of the engineering departments: electrical, computer, civil, chemical, mechanical, and environmental, along with the math and computer science departments and all communication classrooms, computer labs, and broadcasting studios. Laboratories and classes for these disciplines take place in both buildings. Both biology and chemistry laboratories are also located on the south campus. This building once contained a working nuclear reactor, which was decommissioned and stripped of its nuclear fuel and power generating capabilities in 1999.
In September 2021, the Leo Engineering Building was refurbished with a new 30,000 square foot building with 14 engineering and science labs. The new laboratory building is named the Higgins Engineering & Science Center, thanks to a $5 million gift from Cornelius Higgins and his wife, Patricia.
There are currently four on-campus residence halls at Manhattan University. Jasper Hall and Chrysostom Hall are both traditional-style dorms, while Horan Hall and Lee Hall offer suite-style living and apartment-style living.
Draddy Gymnasium is the home of the basketball and volleyball teams, and also features the largest indoor track in New York City. Gaelic Park, on 240th Street, has recently been renovated with an artificial turf and is where soccer, lacrosse, and softball teams play. The institution also utilizes adjacent Van Cortlandt Park for outdoor track and field, golf, and cross country as well as intramural activities. Alumni Hall is the home of the institution's workout facilities as well as the athletic administration.
The Broadway Garage is a five floor parking garage, approved in 2006 and completed soon afterward, located on Broadway. The garage offers parking to students and faculty, as well as visitors. The garage is also connected to Hayden hall via a pedestrian bridge that connects to one of Hayden's top floors, allowing pedestrians to bypass crossing Manhattan College Parkway.
Academics
Manhattan University offers degrees in three undergraduate schools: the Kakos School of Arts and Sciences, the O'Malley School of Business, and the School of Engineering. Its most popular undergraduate majors, based on 2021 graduates, were:Classes operate on a semester schedule. The first semester begins in late August and runs to December. The second semester begins in mid-January and runs to mid-May. Winter intersession and summer courses are also offered, but not required.
The institution offers a number of pre-professional programs such as pre-dental, pre-law, pre-medical, pre-physical therapy, and pre-veterinary; and graduate programs in mathematics, education, engineering and business. The graduate School of Engineering allows students studying engineering as an undergraduate the opportunity to continue on to get their master's degree without having to switch institutions, as is the case at colleges with a 3 + 2 engineering program. The B.S. Business / Masters of Business Administration Program offers students an option to complete a five-year multiple award program. The successful completion of the five-year program leads to two awards: a B.S. in business and an MBA.
Manhattan University contains chapters of various honor societies as Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Xi and Tau Beta Pi, Pi Mu Epsilon, a national mathematics honor society. A newly established chapter of Lambda Pi Eta communication honorary has also been added, as well as Kappa Alpha Omicron an interdisciplinary environmental science and studies honorary. Manhattan participates in the Consortium of Liberal Arts Colleges and in the New York Cluster of seven colleges and universities supported by the Pew Charitable Trusts for undergraduate science education.