The University of Notre Dame is a private institution located in Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 as a Catholic school by Father Edward Sorin, Notre Dame has a total undergraduate enrollment of 8,500 and utilizes a semester-based academic calendar. The university's French name means "Our Lady of the Lake" and refers to the university's patron saint, the Virgin Mary. Its 1,250 acre urban campus is located near South Bend, Indiana, about 100 miles outside of Chicago.

Notre Dame is divided into eight schools and colleges, the largest of which is the College of Arts and Letters. The university is known for its Notre Dame School of Architecture, a faculty that teaches traditional architecture and urban planning covering the principles of New Urbanism and New Classical Architecture. Other graduate and professional programs include the highly ranked Mendoza College of Business and Law School. Notable alumni include a number of state governors and members of the United States Congress, former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, talk-show host Regis Philbin and Hall of Fame football player Joe Montana.

Notre Dame requires its first year undergraduate students to live on campus, but most students choose to remain on campus in one of the 29 single-sex residence halls. There is no Greek life on campus. The residence halls serve as the centers of social life on campus.

Notre Dame has more than 25 varsity athletic teams which are members of the NCAA Division I and are known collectively as the Fighting Irish. The football team, an Independent, has accumulated eleven consensus national championships, seven Heisman Trophy winners, and 62 members in the College Football Hall of Fame. Other ND teams, chiefly in the Atlantic Coast Conference, have accumulated 16 national championships.