Bellarmine University is a small Catholic university on a wooded 145-acre campus in the Belknap neighbourhood of Louisville, about six miles from downtown and a short walk from the Highlands. Founded in 1950, it enrols roughly 2,400 undergraduates across 47 majors, with an unusual concentration in the health professions — nursing, respiratory therapy, radiation therapy, exercise science and medical laboratory science, feeding a Louisville hospital system that is one of the city's largest employers. Bellarmine moved its athletics to NCAA Division I in 2020 and competes in the ASUN. It is also home to the Thomas Merton Center, the official repository for the papers of the Trappist monk and writer, which draws scholars from around the world to a campus most people outside Kentucky have never heard of.
Mascot: Knight
Notable Alumni
Susan Cameron (former CEO of Reynolds American)•John Lansing (president and CEO of NPR)•Joseph P. Clayton (former president and CEO of DISH Network and of Sirius Satellite Radio)•Bruce Tinsley (syndicated cartoonist, creator of Mallard Fillmore)
At a Glance
Cost
Published sticker prices for 2025-2026. Actual cost after aid varies.
Top Programs & National Ranking
Approximate national ranking based on departmental rankings, research output, and program reputation.
Highlights
Campus Experience
Bellarmine is small and Catholic and feels it — the class sizes are genuinely small, the faculty know students by name, and a service ethic runs through the place without being compulsory. There is no Greek life to speak of (about 1-2% of students), so the social centre is Division I athletics, service organisations and the Highlands a mile down the road. A large share of students are Louisville locals who go home at weekends, which thins the campus out. The health professions programmes are demanding and cohort-based; the rest of the curriculum sits at a normal private-university pace.
A compact, leafy 145 acres of white and pale limestone buildings on a hillside, with mature trees, quadrangle lawns and views toward downtown Louisville. It looks more like a well-kept private secondary school than a university, which most visitors find charming and a few find small.
Based on Niche reviews, Princeton Review surveys, student forums, and institutional data.
Safety
Bellarmine's Office of Public Safety staffs professional officers 24/7 year-round on a small, enclosed 145-acre campus, with patrols, escorts and Clery reporting gathered jointly with Louisville Metro Police. The scale of the place is itself a safety feature — with under 2,400 undergraduates, strangers are noticed.
Belknap is a settled residential neighbourhood of single-family homes on Louisville's east side, and the immediate streets are quiet. The Highlands entertainment strip on Bardstown Road is about a mile away and busy at night; Louisville's higher-crime areas are well west of campus and not part of most students' routine.
Based on Clery Act data, student surveys, and local crime statistics.
Plan Your Visit
Schedule: Weekdays year-round plus select Saturdays and scheduled open house events
Duration: About 90 minutes including an admissions conversation and a student-led walking tour
Register online in advance. Because the university is small, meetings with a faculty member from your intended major can usually be arranged as part of the same visit — ask when you book.
Book a TourThe campus is compact and open to visitors on foot; a campus map and directions are published online.
Tour ResourcesLate September through early November or March through April, when classes are running and Louisville's weather is at its best. The week of the Kentucky Derby in early May turns the whole city into a different place — fun to see, expensive to visit.
Visitor parking is available at the admissions office on Newburg Road; the campus is small enough to cross on foot in ten minutes. Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport is about 15 minutes away, and downtown Louisville is roughly 20 minutes by car. TARC buses serve Newburg Road, but most students drive.
Location
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