A Parent’s Complete Guide to Loyola University New Orleans (2026-2027)
Affiliate disclosure: UniversityParent earns a commission on purchases made through links in this guide, at no cost to you. We only recommend products and services we’ve researched and believe will genuinely help.
Jump to
- What is the one thing every Loyola University New Orleans parent needs to know before move-in?
- Quick Facts for Loyola University New Orleans Families
- A Note on Wolf Pack Identity and Financial Aid
- Getting to New Orleans
- What do parents need to know about Loyola University New Orleans move-in day 2026?
- The Residence Halls: Where Your Student Might Live
- How much does Loyola University New Orleans cost? Tuition, financial aid, and scholarships for 2026-27
- New Orleans and the Loyola Campus Neighborhood: What Parents Need to Know
- When is Loyola University New Orleans Family Weekend 2026 and how do parents plan for it?
- How can parents support their Loyola University New Orleans student’s mental health?
- Who do Loyola University New Orleans parents contact? Essential numbers and websites for families
- Loyola New Orleans’s Academic Strengths
- Getting Your Student’s Stuff Home Between Semesters
- You Are a Loyola Wolf Pack Family Now
- What is Loyola University New Orleans’s graduation rate?
- Academic Calendar
- What to Pack for Loyola University New Orleans
What is the one thing every Loyola University New Orleans parent needs to know before move-in?
Loyola University New Orleans was founded in 1912 by the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) on a campus fronting St. Charles Avenue in the Uptown neighborhood of New Orleans, directly adjacent to Tulane University and within walking distance of the Garden District’s most celebrated 19th-century architecture.
In the 114 years since its founding, Loyola New Orleans has grown into a comprehensive Jesuit university of approximately 4,500 students, offering the full range of undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs in the liberal arts tradition that defines Jesuit higher education.
The Loyola New Orleans campus occupies one of the most physically beautiful university sites in the American South: the Tudor Gothic architecture of Marquette Hall (1910, the most photographed building on campus, with its twin towers visible from St. Charles Avenue), the Greenville Hall campus center, and the surrounding Uptown neighborhood’s live oak canopy create a campus environment of genuine elegance. The St. Charles Avenue streetcar (one of the oldest operating streetcar lines in the world, running since 1835) stops directly in front of the Loyola campus and connects the university to downtown New Orleans, the French Quarter, and the Warehouse District arts corridor in approximately 20 to 40 minutes.
New Orleans is the defining context for the Loyola experience in ways that are more complete than at any other university in the American South. The city’s jazz and music heritage, its Creole and Cajun culinary traditions, the French Quarter and its architectural history, the Mardi Gras and Jazz Fest cultural calendar, and the very particular social intensity of a city that has survived hurricanes, floods, and economic devastation while maintaining one of the most distinctive cultural identities of any American city create an undergraduate environment unlike any other.
The College of Music and Fine Arts at Loyola New Orleans is one of the most nationally recognized music programs at any Jesuit university, reflecting the institution’s location in the city that invented jazz and that has produced more American musical traditions than any other in the country. Music students at Loyola New Orleans have the French Quarter, Frenchmen Street, the Maple Leaf Bar, and the full living music ecosystem of a city that treats music as infrastructure.
Quick Facts for Loyola University New Orleans Families
| Family Weekend | Loyola University New Orleans holds Family Weekend in early February, and the 2026 event (February 5 to 9) has already passed. |
| Location | New Orleans, LA 70118 |
| Enrollment | ~4,500 students |
| Type | Private Jesuit University, Southern States Athletic Conference (NAIA) |
| Tuition (2026-27) | ~$46,000/year (verify at loyno.edu) |
| Room and Board | ~$14,000-$16,000/year (verify at loyno.edu) |
| Total Cost (before aid) | ~$62,000-$64,000/year (verify at loyno.edu) |
| Graduation Rate | ~60% (6-year) |
| Median Earnings (10 years post-grad) | ~$44,000 (verify at loyno.edu) |
| Nearest Airport | MSY (Louis Armstrong New Orleans International, 25 minutes) |
One email a week, for parents doing this right now
The deadlines, checklists, and conversation scripts that actually matter at each stage of the year. Free, and you can unsubscribe anytime.
Looking for the free toolkits? They are on our resources page, no email required.
A Note on Wolf Pack Identity and Financial Aid
Loyola New Orleans’s athletic teams are the Wolf Pack, competing at the NAIA level through the Southern States Athletic Conference. The colors are maroon and gold.
Loyola does not compete at the Division I or Division II NCAA level, and the athletics program is intentionally smaller-scale, focused on the student-athlete experience rather than large-scale athletics infrastructure. Parents from institutions with Division I athletics programs should calibrate expectations accordingly: Loyola’s campus culture is organized around music, the arts, social justice programming, and the city, not around a major athletics program.
Financial aid at Loyola New Orleans is merit-based and need-based through federal, Louisiana state, and institutional programs. Loyola’s merit scholarship programs are significant and are the primary mechanism through which many families reduce the sticker price. Contact loyno.edu/financial-aid for current merit scholarship thresholds and need-based aid programs.
Getting to New Orleans
Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY) is approximately 25 minutes from the Loyola campus via I-10 east, served by American, Delta, United, Southwest, Spirit, and other carriers from major national markets. MSY is one of the more comprehensively connected airports in the Gulf South, with direct flights from most major US hubs.
The I-10 connection from the airport to the Uptown neighborhood and the campus on St. Charles Avenue is straightforward.
For families driving, I-10 connects New Orleans to Baton Rouge (80 miles west), Biloxi and Mobile (90 miles east), and Houston (350 miles west via I-10). The approach to New Orleans on I-10 over the Pontchartrain Causeway approach and through the bayou landscape of the Louisiana coastal plain is one of the most visually distinctive major-city approaches in the South.
What do parents need to know about Loyola University New Orleans move-in day 2026?
Loyola New Orleans’s fall move-in runs in mid-to-late August. Check loyno.edu/housing for your student’s building and move-in window.
New Orleans in mid-August is one of the most climatically demanding move-in environments of any university in the country: temperatures in the low to mid 90s with the subtropical Gulf Coast humidity that makes the heat index approach 105 to 110, the summer’s peak intensity still weeks away from breaking. Move-in crews should bring abundant water, dress for genuine tropical heat, and expect the physical challenge of stairwells and elevators in the subtropical humidity.
Loyola New Orleans runs organized move-in with residential life staff and building-specific unloading areas.
Practical notes:
- Ship boxes ahead. Loyola holds packages.
- After unloading, the Magazine Street restaurant corridor (5 minutes from campus), the Uptown dining scene along Freret Street and Oak Street, and the Camellia Grill (a New Orleans diner institution on Carrollton, since 1946) provide first-night dining options within easy reach of campus.
The Residence Halls: Where Your Student Might Live
Loyola New Orleans’s residential system provides on-campus housing for approximately 1,200 students in the first two years, with freshmen required to live on campus.
Buddig Hall and Cabra Hall are among the primary freshman residence halls, providing traditional room and suite configurations for incoming students within the residential community adjacent to the academic core of campus.
Biever Hall and the residential apartment options provide housing for upperclass students, and many Loyola upperclassmen live off-campus in the surrounding Uptown neighborhood’s apartments and rental houses, reflecting the traditional New Orleans pattern of student integration into the city’s residential neighborhoods.
The Loyola dining program operates through the campus dining facilities and provides meal plan options for on-campus residents.
How much does Loyola University New Orleans cost? Tuition, financial aid, and scholarships for 2026-27
Loyola New Orleans offers significant merit scholarship aid that reduces the effective cost considerably for many students. Contact loyno.edu/financial-aid for current merit scholarship thresholds and need-based aid.
| Expense | Cost |
|---|---|
| Tuition and Fees | ~$46,000 (verify at loyno.edu) |
| Room and Board | ~$14,000-$16,000 (verify at loyno.edu) |
| Books and Supplies | ~$1,200 (verify at loyno.edu) |
| Personal and Transportation | ~$3,000 (verify at loyno.edu) |
| Estimated Total (before aid) | ~$64,200-$66,200 (verify at loyno.edu) |
Loyola New Orleans offers significant merit scholarship aid that reduces the effective cost considerably for many students. Contact loyno.edu/financial-aid for current merit scholarship thresholds and need-based aid.
If there is a gap between aid and costs, SoFi is consistently competitive on private loan rates. Always work with Loyola’s financial aid office first.
FAFSA guide for Loyola New Orleans families Full college cost planning guide
New Orleans and the Loyola Campus Neighborhood: What Parents Need to Know
The Garden District and Uptown neighborhood in which Loyola sits is one of the most architecturally and culturally distinguished residential districts in the American South, and the parent visit to Loyola New Orleans is simultaneously a visit to a campus and an experience of one of the most singular cities in the world.
The Garden District begins immediately across the street from the Loyola campus, extending from St. Charles Avenue south toward Magazine Street in a neighborhood of mid-19th century Greek Revival, Italianate, and Victorian mansions built by the American merchant class that settled upriver from the French Quarter after Louisiana statehood. The Garden District architecture is among the finest antebellum residential architecture surviving in the American South, and a walking tour of Prytania Street and Coliseum Square is one of the most rewarding architectural walks available from any American campus.
Magazine Street is the commercial backbone of the Uptown neighborhood, running parallel to St. Charles Avenue from the Garden District north toward Audubon Park: 6 miles of independent boutiques, antique shops, restaurants, coffee shops, and galleries that constitute one of the most walkable commercial corridors in New Orleans and the primary off-campus retail environment for Loyola and Tulane students.
Frenchmen Street (in the Marigny neighborhood, approximately 30 minutes from campus via the St. Charles streetcar and a transfer) is the living music hub of New Orleans: a two-block stretch of music clubs where jazz, funk, brass band, and Creole music are performed live seven nights a week, with cover charges that range from nothing to modest. Frenchmen Street is the authentic living expression of the New Orleans music tradition that the French Quarter’s commercial music venues approximate.
The New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA, Collins Diboll Circle, City Park) and the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden (free, 64 outdoor sculptures in the live oak landscape of City Park) constitute the primary fine art museum destination in the city, approximately 30 minutes from the Loyola campus via the Canal Street streetcar.
Audubon Park (directly across St. Charles Avenue from the Loyola campus) is the primary green space in the Uptown neighborhood, with the Audubon Zoo, running and walking paths along the Mississippi River levee, and the 350-acre live oak landscape that makes it one of the most beautiful urban parks in the South.
The French Quarter is approximately 30 to 40 minutes from campus via the St. Charles streetcar, with the Cathedral-Basilica of Saint Louis (1794, oldest Catholic cathedral in continuous use in the United States), the Cabildo and Presbytere museums (Louisiana State Museum, documenting Louisiana’s complex history from colonization through the Civil War and Reconstruction), Cafe Du Monde (beignets and cafe au lait since 1862), and the full French Quarter architectural and cultural landscape.
For parent visit dining: Dooky Chase’s Restaurant (Orleans Avenue, Treme, Leah Chase’s legendary Creole restaurant, a landmark of New Orleans culinary and civil rights history), Commander’s Palace (Washington Avenue at Coliseum, the most celebrated traditional New Orleans restaurant in the Garden District, a Brennan family institution since 1893), and the Freret Street restaurant corridor for accessible and excellent Uptown dining within walking distance of campus.
When is Loyola University New Orleans Family Weekend 2026 and how do parents plan for it?
Loyola University New Orleans holds Family Weekend in early February, and the 2026 event (February 5 to 9) has already passed.
Loyola New Orleans runs Family Weekend in the spring rather than the fall, so the next one is expected in early February 2027, dates to be confirmed. Watch the official family weekend page for the 2027 announcement, and book a refundable hotel once the date posts.
Comparing schools? See our 2026 parents weekend and family weekend dates for every college in one place.
Loyola University New Orleans refunds tuition on a declining schedule after the semester starts, so timing a withdrawal matters.
Only tuition is refundable, fees are never refunded. Mere cessation of attendance does not count as a withdrawal, a student must file a completed withdrawal form, and the date the Registrar receives it, not the last day attended, sets the refund amount.
Refund schedule: for a Fall or Spring full-semester withdrawal: 100% refund if formal notice is received within 10 business days after the semester starts, 50% within 25 business days, no refund after that (the fifth week of classes). Confirmed via the official Loyola University New Orleans refund policy page. Policies and dates change every term, so verify directly before making a decision.
Advertising disclosure: this is a paid partner link. UniversityParent may earn a commission if you purchase through it.
Most colleges do not refund 100% of tuition once the semester starts.
GradGuard Tuition Insurance can reimburse tuition, housing, and fees if a covered illness, injury, mental health condition, or other covered reason forces a withdrawal during the term. Plans must be purchased before the semester begins.
Freshmen can bring a car to Loyola New Orleans, but first-year permits are capacity-limited, not guaranteed.
This is a relatively new policy, the first time resident freshmen have had parking privileges since 1999, and permits are sold on a limited, first-come, first-served basis. Register as soon as the sale window opens.
Freshman permit cost: not found; pricing sits behind the student SSO portal login. Confirmed via the official Loyola New Orleans parking page. Policies can change year to year, so verify before move-in.
Loyola New Orleans’s Family Weekend programming and the annual calendar of campus events provide the primary structured family visit occasions. Check loyno.edu/studentlife for current Family Weekend dates and programming.
The New Orleans cultural calendar provides context for family visits throughout the academic year: Mardi Gras (typically February or early March) is the most culturally significant New Orleans event and is always during the academic semester, and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival (Jazz Fest, last weekend of April and first weekend of May, annually) overlaps with the end of the semester in ways that make spring parent visits particularly memorable.
Hotel strategy: New Orleans has extensive hotel inventory at all price ranges, from the classic downtown hotels (the Roosevelt, the Monteleone, the Windsor Court) to the Garden District bed and breakfasts and the University area hotels near the campus. Book Mardi Gras weekend many months ahead. For non-peak weekends, 2 to 3 weeks ahead is adequate.
How can parents support their Loyola University New Orleans student’s mental health?
Loyola New Orleans’s Counseling and Career Services provides individual therapy, group therapy, crisis support, and psychiatric referrals.
New Orleans presents specific mental health contexts for students: the city’s relationship with trauma (Hurricane Katrina in 2005 is still within living memory for most New Orleans families, and the city’s ongoing coastal vulnerability and climate anxiety are real), the city’s complex relationship with joy and grief and celebration and mourning (which is embedded in jazz culture and in the funeral tradition), and the intensity of the social and cultural environment that New Orleans produces can be both exhilarating and overwhelming for students from quieter backgrounds.
The Jesuit tradition at Loyola emphasizes pastoral care and social justice engagement as components of student wellbeing, and the campus ministry programs provide community and meaning alongside the clinical counseling resources.
Loyola New Orleans mental health and health resources:
- Counseling and Career Services: contact via loyno.edu/counseling
- Student Health Services: contact via loyno.edu/health
- Crisis line: 988 (call or text, 24/7)
- Emergency: 911
Who do Loyola University New Orleans parents contact? Essential numbers and websites for families
Verify all phone numbers and URLs at loyno.edu before using, as contact information is subject to change.
- Student Affairs / Parent Resources: contact via loyno.edu/studentaffairs
- Admission: contact via loyno.edu/admissions
- Financial Aid: contact via loyno.edu/financial-aid
- Housing: contact via loyno.edu/housing
- Counseling and Career Services: contact via loyno.edu/counseling
- Student Health Services: contact via loyno.edu/health
- Campus Safety (non-emergency): contact via loyno.edu/campussafety
- Registrar: contact via loyno.edu/registrar
- Emergency: 911
Loyola New Orleans’s Academic Strengths
The College of Music and Fine Arts is the most nationally recognized academic unit at Loyola New Orleans, and it is the most significant music program in a city that is the birthplace of jazz, the home of the brass band tradition, and the most musically influential city of its size in American cultural history….
The College of Music and Fine Arts is the most nationally recognized academic unit at Loyola New Orleans, and it is the most significant music program in a city that is the birthplace of jazz, the home of the brass band tradition, and the most musically influential city of its size in American cultural history. Music students at Loyola study in the context of a living musical ecosystem: Frenchmen Street’s nightly performance circuit, the New Orleans Musician’s Village, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, and the full range of performance venues that constitute the world’s most active working jazz and roots music environment. The performance opportunities, mentoring relationships with working New Orleans musicians, and the cultural immersion that the city provides create a music education environment that is genuinely without peer for students pursuing jazz, classical, or popular music careers.
The College of Arts and Sciences provides the full range of liberal arts programs in the Jesuit tradition, including programs in philosophy, theology, English, history, political science, psychology, sociology, and the natural sciences. The Jesuit emphasis on the integration of faith and reason, the social justice tradition (cura personalis, the whole-person care that is the hallmark of Jesuit education), and the commitment to ethical reasoning and civic engagement shape the arts and sciences curriculum in ways that are specific to the Jesuit tradition and are visible in the campus culture.
The Joseph A. Butt, S.J. College of Business provides AACSB-accredited undergraduate and MBA programs with strong connections to the New Orleans business community, including the hospitality and tourism industry (New Orleans is one of the major convention and tourism cities in the United States), the energy and maritime industries that make the Port of New Orleans and the Louisiana Gulf Coast economically significant, and the creative economy that the New Orleans music, film, and arts sectors generate.
The College of Law provides a Juris Doctor program that is among the most New Orleans-specific law schools in the country: the Louisiana civil law tradition (rooted in the French and Spanish civil law systems rather than English common law) makes Louisiana law uniquely complex and the Loyola law school’s grounding in civil law provides graduates with expertise that is directly relevant to Louisiana practice.
Getting Your Student’s Stuff Home Between Semesters
MSY airport (25 minutes from campus) provides comprehensive national connectivity for end-of-semester travel. The New Orleans subtropical climate means December travel is weather-mild by most standards, though the Gulf Coast hurricane season (June through November) creates weather awareness during the fall semester. Storage Scholars specializes in student storage with residence hall pickup and delivery.
Full printable Loyola New Orleans dorm packing list
You Are a Loyola Wolf Pack Family Now
The St. Charles streetcar from in front of Marquette Hall to the French Quarter on a Friday evening when the city is beginning its weekend. Frenchmen Street at midnight when the brass band is second-lining and the music is the reason New Orleans exists.
Commander’s Palace on a Family Weekend Saturday when the jazz brunch is full and the Garden District is at its most beautiful in the November cool. The Besthoff Sculpture Garden in City Park on a Sunday morning when the live oaks are doing what only New Orleans live oaks do.
Loyola New Orleans was founded in 1912 to bring Jesuit education to the city that was, and remains, the most culturally distinctive place in the United States. In 114 years it has built something specific: a university where the music program is world-class because the city demands it, where the philosophy and theology departments take the hard questions seriously, and where the location is not incidental to the education but is the education.
New Orleans teaches. Loyola organizes the curriculum.
Go Wolf Pack.
Stay connected with UniversityParent: Subscribe to our newsletter for school-specific updates, financial aid reminders, and advice from parents who have been through exactly this. Download our free First-Year Parent Checklist, a month-by-month guide through the full freshman year, from move-in through finals.
Have a tip or update for this guide? We rely on Loyola New Orleans parent knowledge to keep these accurate. share a tip
Last updated: May 2026. Tuition, dates, and policies subject to change. Verify all time-sensitive information at loyno.edu and loyno.edu/housing.
Where to stay near Loyola University New Orleans
Hotels near campus fill up fast on move-in and Family Weekend. This live map shows places to stay near Loyola University New Orleans. Drag the map or change the dates to fit your trip.
UniversityParent may earn a commission on bookings made through this map, at no extra cost to you.
What is Loyola University New Orleans’s graduation rate?
Loyola University New Orleans graduates 48% of students in four years; another 11 points finish within six. About 80.1% of first-year students return for sophomore year. Each bar is compared to the national average, marked by the vertical line.
about even with national
5 pts below national
about even with national
Here is how to read these numbers: the four-year and six-year rates show how many students finish on time and eventually, and retention shows how many return after the first year. Wherever your student lands, the habits that keep them on track matter most: a full, well-sequenced course load, an advisor meeting every term, and using campus support early. See why most students don’t graduate in four years and how to choose the right classes in the right order.
Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, most recent available data. National averages: NCES. Figures are for first-time, full-time bachelor’s-seeking students.
The college parent playbook for freshman year
Once you have picked the school, our 2026 Kindle book The College Parent Guide: Freshman Year walks you through the year ahead: what to say, when to step in, and when to hang back. Free companion toolkits and a school-specific packing list come with it.
Get it on Kindle
See what is inside
Free planning tools: College Cost Calculator · College Match Tool
Academic Calendar
Key dates for the Loyola University New Orleans 2026-2027 academic year. Always verify at the official Registrar page before making travel plans.
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| Fall 2026 classes begin | August 24, 2026 (est.) |
| Labor Day (no classes) | September 1, 2026 |
| All Saints Day (no classes) | November 2, 2026 (est.) |
| Thanksgiving break | November 25-27, 2026 (est.) |
| Fall finals | December 8-12, 2026 (est.) |
| Fall semester ends | December 12, 2026 (est.) |
| Spring 2027 classes begin | January 12, 2027 (est.) |
| Mardi Gras break | February 15-17, 2027 (est.) |
| Spring break | March 8-12, 2027 (est.) |
| Spring finals | May 4-8, 2027 (est.) |
| Commencement | May 2027 (est.) |
Winter break housing: Most Loyola University New Orleans residence halls close for winter break. Students who need to remain on campus must apply for break housing through Residential Life before the November deadline. Check the housing portal for specific closure dates and application instructions.
What to Pack for Loyola University New Orleans
Every dorm is different, but these are the items parents of Loyola University New Orleans students buy most. Ship directly to campus and skip the trunk-stuffing stress.
Twin XL Bedding Set
Sheets, comforter, and pillowcases — buy before you arrive so the bed is ready day one.
Shower Caddy & Flip Flops
Shared bathrooms require these. Get a hanging caddy and waterproof sandals before move-in.
Surge Protector Power Strip
Most dorms allow 6-outlet surge protectors with USB ports. Check your school’s policy first.
Want the full list? See our complete college packing list →
Shipping to campus? Students get 6 months of Amazon Prime for Young Adults free, then half price on the student’s own account. Here is how it works.
Explore more college parent guides
What A Parent’s Complete Guide to Loyola University New Orleans (2026-2027) Parents Are Saying
No parent tips yet for this school. Be the first to share what other parents need to know.
Community-submitted tips. Not verified by UniversityParent. Verify time-sensitive information (tuition, deadlines, dates) directly at the school’s official website.