Its chairs of philosophy and theology received Papal approval in 1556, making it the first institution founded by the Society of Jesus (Jesuits).

In September 1551, due to its increased enrollment, the college moved to a larger facility behind the Santo Stefano del Cacco Church in Rome.

In January 1556 Pope Paul IV authorized the Roman College to confer academic degrees in theology and philosophy, elevating it to the rank of university.

He expropriated two city blocks in Rome near the Via del Corso and commissioned the architect Bartolomeo Ammannati to design a new building.

The new space at Piazza Collegio Romano allowed the Gregorian University to add chairs of church history and liturgy.

In 1773, following the suppression of the Society of Jesus throughout Europe, the Jesuits were forced to cede control over the Gregorian University to the Diocese of Rome.

The new government of Italy then confiscated the Gregorian property and building, converting it into the Ennio Quirino Visconti Liceo Ginnasio.

After the Second Vatican Council, the first women to earn doctoral degrees at the university were Sandra Schneiders, IHM, and Mary Milligan, RSHM.

[7] Since the Gregorian is a pontifical university, the Holy See accredits its curriculum, and its degrees have full effect in canon law.

Its licentiates in philosophy and theology are conferred by some Jesuit universities worldwide, entitling recipients to teach in major seminaries.

[12] According to plagiarism expert Michael Dougherty, there was a "systematic failure to maintain academic integrity at the doctoral level at the Gregorian University in specific disciplines during a relatively recent period.

Among the works Dougherty analyzes were dissertations submitted by the bishops Paul Kariuki Njiru, Fintan Gavin, and Stephen Robson.

Earlier accounts of plagiarism in published doctoral dissertations were documented in review articles in The Catholic Biblical Quarterly[14] and Analecta Cisterciensia.

[15] A special commission of three persons claimed to have found only once instance of plagiarism in Robson's thesis; therefore the university took no disciplinary action.

The three libraries of the Gregorian Consortium contain nearly 1.2 million volumes,[7] with large collections in the fields of theology, philosophy, culture and literature.

These documents provide insight on the Church Reforms, the grace or moral debates, the Jansenist polemic and Chinese rites.

[19] According to Article 16 of the Lateran Treaty, a 1929 agreement between the Government of Italy and the Holy See, the Gregorian University enjoys a certain level of extraterritoriality.

According to the treaty, Italy can never subject the university to "charges or to expropriation for reasons of public utility, save by previous agreement with the Holy See."