Vanderbilt University

Overview

Vanderbilt University is one of the most selective institutions for higher education in the United States. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, this RI Doctoral University is known for its high research output, exceptional graduate programs, and flexible coursework. The school provides a slew of interdisciplinary courses to choose from, which feature non-traditional discipline pairings, such as communication and science, economics and history, and medicine and humanities. Meanwhile, learners can avail of the school’s individual interdisciplinary program that allows them to create their own majors.

Vanderbilt’s academic offerings are organized into four undergraduate and six graduate colleges. It offers more than 70 undergraduate majors and maintains a 7:1 student-to-faculty ratio to ensure that classes accommodate the individual learning paces of pupils. In regard to its facilities, Vanderbilt has a 330-acre main campus, a medical center, and its Peabody campus, home to the university’s highly regarded education program. Popular majors include Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary Studies, Mathematics, and Biological Sciences.

Having over 85 research centers, Vanderbilt conducts studies on a broad range of fields, including Management, Finance, Science, Technology, Humanities, and Medicine. The institution’s research has delved into unconventional subjects like card games and coffee. It also has the world’s biggest facility devoted to studying the effects of radiation.

Established in 1873, the university was named after Cornelius Vanderbilt, an American railroad magnate. He spearheaded the school’s initial endowment, which gave its founders financial leverage to acquire land and fund the school’s development. The university was then conceived as a regional college for training Christian ministers and initially had 200 enrolled students.

As of 2020, Vanderbilt takes in more than 13,000 undergraduates, over 7,000 graduate students, and more than 1,800 faculty members. Given its dedication to research, the school was instrumental in the discovery of the element Tennessine and the creation of a mechanized exoskeleton to assist stroke patients and paraplegics. Vanderbilt University students have also made contributions to breeding blue roses, which aren’t naturally produced. The school is associated with seven Nobel Laureates, three Pulitzer Prize winners, six MacArthur Fellows, and 27 Rhodes Scholars.

Notably, Vanderbilt University has also become a breeding ground for politicians, business magnates, medical luminaries, and athletes. Its list of celebrated alumni includes Al Gore (United States vice president), Doug Parker (American Airlines Group chairman), Anne S. Moore (Time CEO), Abdiweli Mohamad Ali (Somalia prime minister), James Patterson (author), John Nance Garner (U.S. vice president), and Edward Emerson Barnard (astronomer).

Looking ahead, Vanderbilt upholds intellectual freedom in its pursuit of discovery and obtaining new knowledge to serve its community and the global society. It also espouses well-roundedness in imbibing knowledge as it hosts plenty of extracurricular activities, including a highly competitive sports program, to nurture its learners.