High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Providence College (also known as Providence) is a private, coeducational, Catholic university located about two miles west of downtown Providence, Rhode Island, United States, the state`s capital city. With a 2010–2011 enrollment of 3,850 undergraduate students and 735 graduate students, the College specializes in academic programs in the liberal arts. It is the only college or university in North America administered by the Dominican Order of Friars.