Loyola University New Orleans is a private, co-educational and Jesuit university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Originally established as Loyola College in 1904, the institution was chartered as a university in 1912. It bears the name of the Jesuit patron, Saint Ignatius of Loyola. Loyola is one of 28 member institutions that make up the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities and, with its current enrollment of approximately 5000 students, is among the larger Jesuit universities in the southern United States. Loyola University New Orleans is ranked fifth best institution among Southern regional universities offering masters and undergraduate degrees in the 2008 issue of the annual America's Best Colleges issue and guidebook published by U.S. News & World Report. The Princeton Review also features Loyola New Orleans in the most recent editions of its annual book, The Best 371 Colleges. In the past, the school has been called Loyola of the South, Loyola New Orleans, Loyola University, New Orleans, and Loyola University of New Orleans. In the early 18th century Jesuits first arrived among the earliest settlers in New Orleans and Louisiana.