Providence College is a Catholic college in Providence, Rhode Island, the state's capital city. With a 2004-2005 enrollment of about 3,900 undergraduate students and about 900 graduate students, the college is known for its programs in the liberal arts and sciences. Founded in 1917, Providence College has been ranked by US News and World Report as one of the top two Regional Colleges in the Northeast for the past nine consecutive years. Furthermore, it is the only college or university in North America administered by the Dominican Order of Friars (Dominican College of California, Aquinas College of Michigan, and St. Thomas Aquinas College in New York all have Dominican heritage, but none is administered on a day-to-day basis by the Dominicans).
The Providence College campus is located near River Avenue, about two miles (3.3 km) northwest of downtown Providence.
Providence College offers fifty majors and twenty-four minors and is one of the few schools in the country that requires all its students to complete 20 credits in the Development of Western Civilization, which serves as a major part of the college's core curriculum. As put forth on the college website:
