University of Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania

For more than two centuries, the University of Pennsylvania has been committed to excellence in scholarship, research and service. From its highly regarded undergraduate, graduate and professional schools to its wide-ranging program of interdisciplinary research and scholarship, Penn takes pride in being a place where students and faculty can pursue knowledge without boundaries, a place where theory and practice combine to produce a better understanding of our world and ourselves. We invite you to explore this great university and take advantage of all it has to offer.

Cornell University

Cornell University

Once called "the first American university" by educational historian Frederick Rudolph, Cornell University represents a distinctive mix of eminent scholarship and democratic ideals. Adding practical subjects to the classics and admitting qualified students regardless of nationality, race, social circumstance, gender, or religion was quite a departure when Cornell was founded in 1865. Today's Cornell reflects this heritage of egalitarian excellence. It is home to the nation's first colleges devoted to hotel administration, industrial and labor relations, and veterinary medicine. Both a private university and the land-grant institution of New York State, Cornell University is the most educationally diverse member of the Ivy League. On the Ithaca campus alone nearly 20,000 students representing every state and 120 countries choose from among 4,000 courses in 11 undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools. Many undergraduates participate in a wide range of interdisciplinary programs, play meaningful roles in original research, and study in Cornell programs in Washington, New York City, and the world over.

Johns Hopkins University

Johns Hopkins University

The Johns Hopkins University, founded in Baltimore in 1876, was the first university in the Western Hemisphere founded on the model of the European research institution, where research and the advancement of knowledge were integrally linked to teaching. Its establishment began a revolution in U.S. higher education. The university is named for its initial benefactor, Baltimore merchant Johns Hopkins, whose $7 million bequest -- the largest U.S. philanthropic gift to that time -- was divided evenly to finance the establishment of both the university and The Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Yale University

Yale University

Yale University was founded in 1701 as the Collegiate School in the home of Abraham Pierson, its first rector, in Killingworth, Connecticut. In 1716 the school moved to New Haven and, with the generous gift by Elihu Yale of nine bales of goods, 417 books, and a portrait and arms of King George I, was renamed Yale College in 1718. Yale embarked on a steady expansion, establishing the Medical Institution (1810), Divinity School (1822), Law School (1843), Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (1847), the School of Fine Arts (1869), and School of Music (1894). In 1887 Yale College became Yale University. It continued to add to its academic offerings
with the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies (1900), School of Nursing (1923), School of Drama (1925), School of Architecture (1972), and School of Management (1974). As Yale enters its fourth century, it's goal is to become a truly global university—educating leaders and advancing the frontiers of knowledge not simply for the United States, but for the entire world. Richard C. Levin, the president of Yale University, says: “The globalization of the University is in part an evolutionary development. Yale has drawn students from outside the United States for nearly...

Princeton University

Princeton University

Princeton is the fourth-oldest college in the United States. The ambience of its earliest days is palpable in historic landmarks on campus, most notably Nassau Hall, which in 1783 was the temporary capitol of the United States. From such a distinctive beginning grew something great -- a community of learning that continues to evolve, providing abundant opportunities to talented students from around the world. As a research university, it seeks to achieve the highest levels of distinction in the discovery and transmission of knowledge and understanding, and in the education of graduate students. At the same time, Princeton is distinctive among research universities in its commitment to undergraduate teaching. The University provides its students with academic, extracurricular and other resources -- in a residential community committed to diversity in its student body, faculty and staff -- that help them achieve at the highest scholarly levels and prepare them for positions of leadership and lives of service in many fields of human endeavor. Through the scholarship and teaching of its faculty, and the many contributions to society of its alumni, Princeton seeks to fulfill its informal motto: “Princeton in the Nation’s Service and in the Service of All Nations.

University of Chicago

University of Chicago

The University of Chicago was founded in 1890 by the American Baptist Education Society and oil magnate John D. Rockefeller, who later described the University of Chicago as “the best investment I ever made.” The land for the new university, in the recently annexed suburb of Hyde Park, was donated by Marshall Field, owner of the Chicago department store that bears his name. William Rainey Harper, the first president, imagined a university that would combine an American-style undergraduate liberal arts college with a German-style graduate research university. The University of Chicago quickly fulfilled Harper's dream, becoming a national leader in higher education and research. Frederick Rudolph, professor of history at Williams College, wrote in his 1962 study, The American College and University: A History, “No episode was more important in shaping the outlook and expectations of American higher education during those years than the founding of the University of Chicago, one of those events in American history that brought into focus the spirit of an age.” One of Harper's curricular innovations was to run classes all year round, and to allow students to graduate at whatever time of year they completed their studies. Appropriately enough, the first class was held...

California Institute of Technology (Caltech)

California Institute of Technology (Caltech)

The mission of the California Institute of Technology is to expand human knowledge and benefit society through research integrated with education. We investigate the most challenging, fundamental problems in science and technology in a singularly collegial, interdisciplinary atmosphere, while educating outstanding students to become creative members of society.