The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a private Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, Indiana, USA. Notre Dame’s Catholic heritage is evident in the architecture around campus, manifested by the ornate Basilica of the Sacred Heart, together with numerous chapels and religious iconography. The university today is organized into five colleges and one professional school, the oldest of which, the College of Arts and Letters, began awarding degrees in 1849. The undergraduate program was ranked 20th among national universities by U.S. News & World Report for 2009-2010. [source: Wikipedia]