Carleton University

Overview

Carleton University is a public research university in Ottawa, Ontario. Founded on June 18, 1942, as Carleton College by the Ottawa Association for the Advancement of Learning, it was established as a non-denominational evening institution to provide accessible post-secondary education to working residents and, after 1945, to returning World War II veterans. The provincial government confirmed its degree-granting privileges in 1952; a 1957 amendment renamed it Carleton University and established it as a public institution. It moved to its current Rideau River site in 1959. More than 30,000 students are enrolled, across undergraduate and graduate programs.

Journalism at Carleton

Journalism is among Carleton's founding programs: the institution conferred its first degrees in 1946 to graduates of its journalism and public administration programs. The School of Journalism and Communication sits within the Faculty of Public Affairs alongside programs in political science, international affairs, public policy, legal studies, and political management — a faculty configuration that reflects Carleton's longstanding proximity to the institutions of Canadian government. The journalism school offers undergraduate and graduate programs and has produced graduates who appear throughout the Canadian journalism sector, including Aaron Hemens, an IndigiNews reporter and photojournalist who received the school's Mitch Jacobson Memorial Award in Photojournalism upon graduating in 2018.

Faculty of Public Affairs

Carleton's Faculty of Public Affairs houses journalism alongside the departments of political science, international affairs, law, economics, sociology and anthropology, public policy and administration, and the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs. This cluster reflects the university's self-described identity as Canada's capital university — its location in Ottawa puts it in immediate proximity to federal departments, Parliament, the Supreme Court, embassies, and the national press gallery, which has shaped its research and professional program orientation across several disciplines.

FoundedJune 18, 1942 (as Carleton College); university status 1957

TypePublic research university

PresidentWisdom Tettey (also Vice-Chancellor)

ChancellorNik Nanos

Enrollment30,713 (25,119 undergraduate; 5,594 graduate)

Campus62 ha (150 acres), Rideau River · UNESCO World Heritage Site (Rideau Canal)

EndowmentC$401.2 million

Websitecarleton.ca