Yale University

Yale University is an American private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Founded in 1701 in Saybrook Colony as the Collegiate School, the University is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States. The school was renamed Yale College in 1718 in recognition of a gift from Elihu Yale, who was governor of the British East India Company. In 1731, received a further gift of land and slaves from Bishop Berkeley. Established to train Congregationalist ministers in theology and sacred languages, by 1777 the school's curriculum began to incorporate humanities and sciences and in the 19th century gradually incorporated graduate and professional instruction, awarding the first Ph.D. in the United States in 1861 and organizing as a university in 1887.

The U.S. News & World Report ranked Yale third among U.S. national universities for 2016,as it has for each of the past sixteen years, in every list trailing only Princeton and Harvard. It was ranked 15th in the 2015/16 QS World University Rankings and 12th in the 2015 Times Higher Education World University Rankings. The Academic Ranking of World Universities placed Yale at 11th in the world in 2015.

Undergraduate admission to Yale College is considered "most selective" by U.S. News. In 2014, Yale accepted 1,935 students to the Class of 2018 out of 30,932 applicants, for an acceptance rate of 6.3%. 98% of students graduate within six years.Through its program of need-based financial aid, Yale commits to meet the full demonstrated financial need of all applicants. Most financial aid is in the form of grants and scholarships that do not need to be paid back to the university, and the average need-based aid grant for the Class of 2017 was $46,395. 15% of Yale College students are expected to have no parental contribution, and about 50% receive some form of financial aid. About 16% of the Class of 2013 had some form of student loan debt at graduation, with an average debt of $13,000 among borrowers.

Half of all Yale undergraduates are women, more than 39% are ethnic minority U.S. citizens (19% are underrepresented minorities), and 10.5% are international students. Fifty-five percent attended public schools and 45% attended private, religious, or international schools, and 97% of students were in the top 10% of their high school class.Every year, Yale College also admits a small group of non-traditional students through the Eli Whitney Students Program.