In 1922, it moved from Manhattan to the Riverdale section of the Bronx, roughly 6.4 miles (10.3 km) north of its original location on 131st Street in Manhattanville.

Manhattan University was founded as the Academy of the Holy Infancy in 1853 by five French De La Salle Christian Brothers in a small building on Canal Street.

When the need to expand forced them from Lower Manhattan, the college moved to 131st Street and Broadway, in the Manhattanville section of Harlem.

The school's name was changed to Manhattan College when it received its state charter in 1863 from the Board of Regents,[4] and moved to its present location in the Riverdale section of the Bronx in 1922 as it outgrew its facilities in Manhattanville.

[5] Originally exclusive to men, Manhattan University established a co-institutional, cooperative program with the College of Mount Saint Vincent in 1963.

Since then, Manhattan University and the College of Mount Saint Vincent have operated as completely unaffiliated institutions.

[6] In late 2023 and early 2024, Manhattan College eliminated more than twenty major and minor programs and terminated over 25% of faculty due to persistent declining enrollment and increasing structural deficits.

Miguel hosts the liberal arts department and classes, while De La Salle is primarily used by the O'Malley School of Business.

The fourth side of the Quad is bordered by the Squeri Hall, which houses Smith Auditorium (used to host receptions, speakers, and performances) on the first floor and the Chapel of De La Salle and His Brothers on the second floor, which features a painting of De La Salle and Brothers behind the altar, a large performing area where musical events and concerts take place on the altar, a grand piano, and a pipe organ in the balcony.

Hayden Hall is on the east side of campus and houses the Kakos School of Science as well as the department of fine arts.

Draddy Gymnasium is the home of the basketball and volleyball teams, and also features the largest indoor track in New York City.

Gaelic Park, on 240th Street, has recently been renovated with an artificial turf and is where soccer, lacrosse, and softball teams play.

The institution also utilizes adjacent Van Cortlandt Park for outdoor track and field, golf, and cross country as well as intramural activities.

Manhattan participates in the Consortium of Liberal Arts Colleges and in the New York Cluster of seven colleges and universities supported by the Pew Charitable Trusts for undergraduate science education.In 2019, Money magazine ranked Manhattan as the top "transformative" school in the nation in a study that took into account earnings and graduation rates to determine which schools help students succeed professionally.

[20] A 2015 Brookings Institution study ranked it as the ninth best school in the country when comparing expected versus actual mid-career earnings.

[22] Manhattan University fields 19 Division–I athletic teams for men and women, including basketball, golf, soccer, baseball and softball, lacrosse, volleyball, and rowing.

In 1973, Manhattan University won the Indoor NCAA Championship along with setting a new world record in the distance medley relay.

The Program was run by legendary coach/runner Fred Dwyer who ran an astounding 4:00.8 mile while at his time at Villanova University.

Manhattan still remains a power house on the east coast as one of the top programs around, under the direction of Dan Mecca.

To relieve the tension, Brother Jasper called time-out and told the students to stand up and stretch for a few minutes until the game resumed."

Luis Castro, a Manhattan University alumnus, was the first Latin American-born player to play in Major League Baseball in the United States.

Also known as the JasperBand, the Manhattan University Pep Band provides musical inspiration to get the Jasper crowds going at Men's and Women's basketball games.

The band performs a variety of music from an expansive repertoire, ranging from Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes and You Can Call Me Al by Paul Simon, to modern day hits such as High Hopes by Panic!

[54] The Quadrangle is an official club of Manhattan University and is open to students of all academic fields of study.

Manhattan alumni are distinguishing themselves in the fields of academics, arts, engineering, literature, business, entertainment, government, and law.