2005-2006 CATALOG
The University of New Orleans (UNO) was established by the Louisiana Legislature in 1956 to bring public-supported higher education to the state’s largest urban community. The Board of Supervisors of the Louisiana State University acquired a 195-acre site on the southern shore of Lake Pontchartrain within the City of New Orleans. A number of the buildings remaining on the property from its prior use as a United States Navy air station were renovated for academic purposes during the winter and spring of 1958. In September 1958, Louisiana State University in New Orleans, which was renamed the University of New Orleans in 1974, opened to nearly 1,500 freshman students, more than twice the number anticipated. Only a freshman curriculum was offered the first year. In succeeding years, additional levels of curricula were developed and offered so that by 1962 the University was operating as a full four-year, degree-granting institution. Programs of study are now offered through six academic undergraduate colleges: Business Administration, Education and Human Development, Engineering, Liberal Arts, Sciences, and Urban Studies – in addition to the Graduate School. Educational extension, professional development, and international education activities (including credit and non-credit courses) are offered through Metropolitan College.
As a member of the Louisiana State University System, UNO has grown to become a comprehensive urban university that provides academic support for the further enhancement of the educational, economic, cultural, and social well-being of the culturally rich and diverse New Orleans metropolitan area. To that end, the University’s community involvement has developed mutually beneficial affiliations with public and private bodies whose goals are are consistent with and supportive of the University’s teaching, research, and community service role. The University promotes both technological and academic engagements that connect the institution, its faculty, and its students to the community. Such affiliations with public schools, other local universities, governments, foundations, businesses, and civic groups enrich opportunities for learning and creative discovery, while enhancing opportunities for career and community growth. Graduate study and research are also integral to the University’s purpose. Doctoral programs focus on fields of study in which UNO has the ability to achieve national competitiveness and/or respond to specific state and regional needs.
UNO is a selective admissions university* serving more than 16,000 students, of whom nearly three-fourths are undergraduates and a fourth are graduate students in both Master’s and Doctoral programs. UNO offers more than one hundred degree programs to a student body that is broadly representative of local, national, and international diversity. The University serves students of traditional age and also older students whose experience and motivation prepare them for programs of study leading to degrees as well as to professional and personal advancement.
*UNO is classified as a Southern Regional Education Board Four-Year II institution, as a Carnegie Doctoral/Research Intensive University, and as a Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Level VI institution.
