Yale University

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:For other uses, see Yale (disambiguation).

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Yale University is a private university in New Haven, Connecticut. Founded in 1701 as the Collegiate School, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States. The University has graduated numerous Nobel Prize laureates, Supreme Court justices, and U.S. Presidents, including William Howard Taft (B.A.), Gerald Ford (LL.B), George H.W. Bush (B.A.), Bill Clinton (J.D.), and George W. Bush (B.A.).

Related Topics:
University - New Haven, Connecticut - 1701 - Third-oldest - Higher education - United States - Nobel Prize - Laureates - Supreme Court - U.S. President - William Howard Taft - Gerald Ford - George H.W. Bush - Bill Clinton - George W. Bush

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Yale's assets, including a $15.2 billion endowment (the second largest in the world, after Harvard) and over a dozen libraries that hold 11 million volumes, support an enrollment of 5,200 undergraduates and 6,000 graduate students. Yale's 70 undergraduate majors are primarily focused on a liberal curriculum, and few of Yale's undergraduate departments are pre-professional in nature (even the engineering departments encourage and require students to explore academic disciplines outside of engineering). Some 20 percent of Yale undergraduates major in the sciences, 35 percent in the social sciences, and 45 percent in the arts and humanities. All tenured professors teach undergraduate courses, and more than 75 percent of Yale's 2,000 undergraduate courses enroll fewer than 20 students.

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Yale offers strong graduate programs in classics, drama, art, architecture, history, medicine and law. Overall, Yale has more than 3,200 faculty members, among whom Sterling Professors are considered the highest level.

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Yale's residential college housing system, modeled after similar systems at Oxford and Cambridge, is unique among universities in the United States. Each of Yale's 12 residential colleges houses a representative cross-section of the undergraduate student body, and features numerous facilities, seminars, and support personnel for its students.

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Yale has produced prominent alumni in many different fields. The university claims more U.S. Presidents in modern times than any other university, and beginning with Peace Corps founder Sargent Shriver, at least one Yale graduate has been a Democratic or Republican Presidential or Vice-Presidential nominee in every election since 1972. Six Yale graduates have won the Nobel Prize since 1994. According to Fortune magazine, Yale has graduated more Fortune 500 CEOs than any other undergraduate college. Numerous actors including Paul Newman, Meryl Streep, Jodie Foster and Edward Norton have also come from Yale.

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U.S. Presidents - Peace Corps - Sargent Shriver - Fortune - Fortune 500 - Paul Newman - Meryl Streep - Jodie Foster - Edward Norton

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Yale is selective in admissions in its undergraduate and graduate programs. Fewer than 10 percent of the nearly twenty thousand applicants to the undergraduate college are offered admission each year, and approximately three-quarters of those offered admission choose to attend. Yale Law School accepts approximately 6% of its nearly 4,000 applicants (making it the most selective law school in the United States), and more than 80% of those offered admission choose to attend.

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The rivalry between Yale and Harvard University is long and storied, by far the oldest and most intense in the Ivy League; from academics to rowing to college football, their historic competition is similar to that of Oxford and Cambridge. Other universities considered peer schools to Yale include Princeton University, Stanford University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Related Topics:
Yale - Harvard University - Ivy League - That of Oxford and Cambridge - Princeton University - Stanford University - Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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During Yale's tercentennial celebration in 2001, Yale president Richard C. Levin summarized Yale's institutional goals for the twenty-first century: "As we look to the future, Yale remains committed to undergraduate education and a determination to educate leaders. Leaders of the twenty-first century will operate in a global environment. Therefore, Yale's curriculum is increasing its focus on international concerns and having strong international representation among our student population."

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