The College of Science was established at the university in 1865 by president Father Patrick Dillon. Dillon's scientific courses were six years of work, including higher-level mathematics courses. Today the college, housed in the newly built Jordan Hall of Science, includes over 1,200 undergraduates in six departments of study – biology, chemistry, mathematics, physics, pre-professional studies, and applied and computational mathematics and statistics (ACMS) – each awarding Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degrees. According to university statistics, its science pre-professional program has one of the highest acceptance rates to medical school of any university in the United States.

Which president at Notre Dame created the College of Science?