Fairfield University the Graduate School of Education and Allied Professions. In 1941, Rev. James H. Dolan, S.J., Provincial for the New England Province of the Society of Jesus, received written permission from Bishop Maurice F. McAuliffe of the Hartford Archdiocese to establish a Jesuit high school and college in the southwestern area of Connecticut. Fairfield University was officially founded in 1942 when the Jesuits acquired the two contiguous estates of the Brewster Jennings and Walter Lashar families. Upon its founding, it became the 26th Jesuit college/university in the United States. In the same year, Rev. James H. Dolan, S.J. appointed the Rev.
Education in Bridgeport, Connecticut Education in Bridgeport, Connecticut Education in Bridgeport, Connecticut includes Bridgeport Public Schools, private and religious schools, a college, and a university. Bridgeport is home to the University of Bridgeport, Housatonic Community College, St. Vincent's College and the Yeshiva Gedola of Bridgeport. Gutchess College was a business school which went defunct circa 1920. The city's public school system has 30 elementary schools, three high schools, two alternative programs and an interdistrict vocational aquaculture school. The system has about 23,000 students, making the Bridgeport Public Schools the second largest school system in Connecticut. The school system employs a staff of more than