Yale University

Located in New Haven, Connecticut; Yale University is one of the original eight east coast Ivy League colleges known for their high academic standard and lengthy history.  The rest are Brown University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, Columbia University, University of Pennsylvania, and Princeton University.  Founded in 1701, Yale is the third oldest institution of higher education in the United States.  Originally charted as a college to train clergy and political leaders for the colony, it was renamed in 1718 to honor Elihu Yale, governor of the British East India Company.   Yale has also produced many notable alumni, including five U.S. Presidents, 19 U.S. Supreme Court Justices, and many foreign heads of state.   Yale University Library, which holds over 12 million volumes, is the second-largest university collection in the United States.

Although an all-male institution, women have studied at Yale University as early as 1892, in graduate-level programs at the Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.  In 1966, Yale began discussions with its sister school, Vassar College, about merging to foster coeducation at the undergraduate level.  Vassar, then all-female, declined the invitation.  Both schools introduced coeducation independently in 1969.  Even after a decade into co-education, rampant student assault and harassment by faculty became the impetus for the trailblazing lawsuit Alexander v. Yale.  While unsuccessful in the courts, the legal reasoning behind the case changed the landscape of sex discrimination law and resulted in the establishment of Yale's Grievance Board and the Yale Women's Center.  As recent as March, 2011, a Title IX complaint was filed against Yale.  Part of the Education Amendment since 1972, Title IX states that no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.  Yale has had its share of coed troubles.

The U.S. News and World Report ranked Yale third among national universities in 2012, as it has for each of the past fifteen years, in every case behind, in either order or tied with Princeton and Harvard.  Like other Ivy League schools, Yale instituted policies in the early 20th century designed to increase the proportion of white Protestants of notable families in the student body, and was one of the last of the Ivies to eliminate such preferences, beginning with the class of 1970.  On the day of our visit, there was diversity among the student body in so far as we can tell.  Yale has indeed come a long way since the 1970’s.   Over 30,000 apply each year, but less than 10% are admitted.  In addition, the postgraduates outnumber the undergrads.  With all the Nobel Laureates on campus, one wonders if the undergrads are given the nurturing attention they need.

Students who applied to Yale University, also looked at Princeton University, Harvard University, and Brown University.

For more information on Yale University, visit  http://www.yale.edu/

Yale University is located at 38 Hillhouse Avenue  New Haven, CT 06511  (203) 432-9300