Loyola College is a government aided private Catholic higher education institution run by the

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

, India. It was founded in 1925 by the French

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

priest, Francis Bertram, along with other

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an Jesuits. It is an autonomous Jesuit college affiliated with the

University of Madras The University of Madras is a public university, public State university (India), state university in Chennai (Madras), Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and most prominent universities in India, incorporated by an ...

. Loyola commerce association celebrated its 75th year in 2019. Loyola College has more than 10,000 students studying as of 2023.

History

The name Loyola comes from the ancestral castle where Íñigo López de Loyola was born in 1491, the last of a large Basque family. He along with St. Francis Xavier and five other companions founded the

(the Jesuit Order), a worldwide organization of religious men numbering about 19,000. Nearly 4,000 are working in the 18 provinces of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. In

, there are 480 Jesuits working in schools, colleges, youth services, social work centres, parishes, mission outreach programmes, and in other forms of service and church ministry. Loyola College was founded in 1925 by the French

priest, Francis Bertram (originally a.k.a. Père François Bertrand; 1870/1871–1936), along with other

s, Fr Francis Bertram was educated at the universities of

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, and the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

. The Department of Economics was founded by Rev Fr Basenach from the

Academics

The college offers courses at the

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education, usually in a college or university. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, ...

and

postgraduate Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor' ...

levels. The arts/humanities stream includes English,

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

commerce Commerce is the organized Complex system, system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions that directly or indirectly contribute to the smooth, unhindered large-scale exchange (distribution through Financial transaction, transactiona ...

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

, Tamil and

sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

. Science courses include

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data. In applying statistics to a s ...

botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

and

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

. The college follows a credit-based, semester pattern. Undergraduate students must pass all examinations and obtain at least 120 credits in three years to be eligible for a degree. All students must also earn non-academic credits from extra-curricular and social service options. The Department of Outreach facilitates social work in the college. It is a degree requirement that every student irrespective of department complete the

outreach Outreach is the activity of providing services to any population that might not otherwise have access to those services. A key component of outreach is that the group providing it is not stationary, but mobile; in other words, it involves meetin ...

program in second year, intended to form more complete human persons. The program takes students to

slum A slum is a highly populated Urban area, urban residential area consisting of densely packed housing units of weak build quality and often associated with poverty. The infrastructure in slums is often deteriorated or incomplete, and they are p ...

s and backward areas in and around

to acquaint them with the sufferings of the people and to serve in small ways to better the living conditions. The program awards 3 credits. Loyola College along with Women's Christian college are the only colleges in the state capital

with "A+" accreditation from NAAC. '' India Today'' magazine in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009 ranked Loyola number one in India for science degrees, and in 2007 in both science and humanities. The Department of Scientific and Industrial Research has recognised Loyola College as a Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, the highest research honour for an Arts and Science College. The college has been conferred a "College with Potential For Excellence" status by the University Grants Commission. It was given a 10 million grant (1 Crore) in 2006 by the UGC for continual improvement of facilities. The UGC has further certified it as a "College of Excellence" in the year 2014. The certification, for a period of five years until 2019, comes with a grant of Rs. 2 crore for the college to upgrade its facilities. Loyola college is one of the colleges which was selected fo
Deen Dayal Upadhyay KAUSHAL Kendra
a remarkable scheme initiated and funded by the Government of India and the University Grants Commission. It hosts a variety of courses like B.Voc. 3D Animation, B.Voc. Digital Journalism, M.Voc. 3D Animation and M.Voc. Digital Journalism, all of which are designed to offer Job oriented training. It has both UG and PG level curriculum courses in the department.

Rankings

Loyola College secured 8th rank in The National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) ranking 2024.

Institute for Excellence

* Loyola College of Education *

Loyola Institute of Business Administration Loyola Institute of Business Administration (LIBA) is a Private school, private business school in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, was founded by the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in 1979. It is situated on the Loyola College, Chennai, campus and ru ...

* Centre for International Program * Entomology Research Institute * Ignatian Institute for Career Development * Institute for Dialogues with Cultures and Religions (Research institution under

) * Loyola – Racine Research Institute of Mathematics and Computer Sciences * Loyola ICAM College of Engineering and Technology * Loyola Institute for Industrial and Social Science Research * Loyola Institute of Frontier Energy * Loyola Institute of People Studies * Loyola Institute of Social Science Training and Research * Loyola Institute of Personal Development * Loyola Institute of Vocational Education

Culturals

Loyola College was a pioneer among colleges in South India in hosting cultural fests, and stands out among men's college in

for fostering well-rounded development. Women were first admitted at the turn of the

millennium A millennium () is a period of one thousand years, one hundred decades, or ten centuries, sometimes called a kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting ...

, and they too are encouraged to participate in cultural activities. The college has been commended for its blend of cultures and for requiring all students to have weekly contact with the poor. Its cultural sensitivity also extends worldwide. The large, Down Sterling inter-college carnival was terminated by college authorities in 1992 when things got out of hand. This historic carnival is memorialized in the friendship song "MUSTHAFA MUSTHAFA" from the movie '' Kadhal Desam'' (1996). To somewhat fill the void the Loyola Student's Union organizes the intra-collegiate cultural event Ovations each September where the students compete for the Trophy in both on and off stage cultural competitions while representing their home departments. The college also used to host an annual inter-collegiate dance competition called "Ignite" each February, where its dance team, Loyola Dream Team, excels; also featured are Western/acoustic music bands, and variety and mime teams, but has not been conducted for the past 3 years for various reasons.

Alumni

Loyola college alumni also referred to as Loyolites have been contributors in various fields of law, politics, civil services, science, education, business, sports and entertainment. Loyola Alumni Association was officially started during the time of Rev.Fr.Lawrence Sundaram SJ in 1990. At present there are 34,000+ members. Loyola Alumni Day is celebrated on the First Sunday of August every year which is "Friendship Day". File:Vijay at Protest of the Nadigar Sangam.jpg, Vijay, Indian Tamil Actor File:Kalanithi Maran (cropped).jpg, Kalanithi Maran, Founder and chairman of the SUN Group File:Sasikumar 02.jpg, Sashi Kumar, founder and promoter of Asianet, chairman of the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai File:Viswanathan Anand (2016) (cropped).jpeg, Viswanathan Anand, Five time World Chess Champion and winner of multiple International Chess tournaments

Gallery

Image:Lawrence sundaram audi.jpg, The Jubilee Building Image:Loyola college entrance.jpg, Entrance gate Image:Loyola college.jpg, Name board at the entrance in Tamil

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Loyola College, Chennai Jesuit universities and colleges in India Educational institutions established in 1925 Arts and Science colleges in Chennai Colleges affiliated to University of Madras 1925 establishments in India