Fordham University is a research university in New York City, founded by the Catholic Diocese of New York in 1841 as St. John's College. 

There are three campuses within New York State, which are: Rose Hill in the Bronx, Lincoln Centre in Manhattan and Westchester in West Harrison. In addition, the university has a study abroad centre in the United Kingdom, Spain and South Africa.

Ten different colleges make up Fordham University – four of which are for undergraduates while six are for postgraduates. These include: Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, and Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees, as well as the various master's and doctoral degrees. The university, however, is most renowned for its humanities programmes. 

Among Fordham’s graduate degrees is the Fordham School of Law, which is in fact home to the first Fashion Law Institute in the country.

The libraries at Fordham University are huge, containing more than two million volumes, periodicals and electronic journals. Moreover, it is also a depository for United States Government documents. 

Fordham University is considered a research university and facilities are available on campus to facilitate this. Buildings include the Louis Calder Centre – a 114-acre biological field station – the William Spain Seismic Observatory, and a data collection unit for the US Geological Survey. Many faculty of Fordham have conducted research with other institutions across the country such as the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre.

Through the university’s international programmes, students have the ability to study abroad during their studies. More than 130 opportunities are on offer, which can range between six weeks and a full academic year. Partner institutions include Georgetown University, the University of Oxford, and the Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE).

There are over 20 sports teams at Fordham University which compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association and play as a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference. The men's basketball, in particular, has an impressive background boasting four NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship and 16 National Invitational Tournament appearances. 

The university has its own student-run award-winning newspaper called The Observer, while The Ram is the university's journal of record, and the paper, which is a student-run free-speech publication.

Notable alumni include Denzel Hayes Washington, Jr., an American actor, filmmaker, director, and producer, Vince Lombardi, an American football player, coach, and executive in the National Football League (NFL), and Mary Higgins Clark, an American author of suspense novels