History
The School of Philosophy was inaugurated in 1895, six years after The Catholic University of America first opened its doors. Like Clark University and Johns Hopkins University, Catholic University was initially conceived as a graduate institution exclusively; and consonant with the university's founding charter, the School of Philosophy has, since its inception, prepared graduates of its doctoral program to teach philosophy in universities, colleges, and seminaries in the U.S. and abroad. To date, we have accepted nearly five hundred doctoral dissertations on topics in every philosophical discipline and in dialogue with every major figure in the history of philosophy.
In 1904, the School admitted its first undergraduate students. In the years since, our undergraduate offerings have grown in tandem with our graduate programs. With some a hundred and twenty majors in any given year, the undergraduate program in philosophy at The Catholic University of America is, per capita, one of the largest and most successful in the country. The Faculty of the School of Philosophy are also involved in undergraduate education at the University more generally, since every undergraduate at the University will take some courses in philosophy.