As the only national collection taken for higher education in the United States, the upcoming collection for The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., is vital to scholarships for financially deserving students.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops designates the first or second Sunday in September for its national collection for CUA. This year the collection will be taken up in parishes of the Diocese of Trenton on Sept. 3-4.

Serving students in more than 50 disciplines, CUA relies on the national collection to underwrite the scholarships necessary for many financially challenged students to attend. The university boasts 12 schools, 32 research facilities and more than 250 academic programs – carrying a student body of approximately 5,700 undergraduate and graduate students. It is also the only school of Canon Law in the nation, and the only Catholic university founded and sponsored by the bishops of the United States with the approval of the Holy See.

Begun by a pontifical charter in 1887 as the research university of the Church in the United States, the university has long served the Church and nation. Since 1903, CUA has benefitted from the national collection, which the school’s first chancellor, James Cardinal Gibbons, called “the people’s endowment.”

Gifts to the collection will also help the university conduct critical research that serves parishes and dioceses throughout the country. Research initiatives and training programs, like “The Catholic Project” – an initiative that brings together clergy and laity to address challenges of the U.S. Church – benefit from the generous contributions. 

More information can be found at https://engage.catholic.edu/giving/how-give/national-collection