Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1873 with a gift from Cornelius Vanderbilt and grew from a Methodist-related college into an independent research university. The campus covers about 330 acres west of downtown and is planted as an arboretum. Professional schools in medicine, law, education, and music share the same grounds as the undergraduate college.

Schools include the College of Arts and Science, the School of Engineering, Peabody College of education and human development, the Blair School of Music, the Divinity School, the Law School, the Owen Graduate School of Management, the School of Medicine, the School of Nursing, and a graduate school. Vanderbilt University Medical Center is the main clinical and biomedical research setting. Graduate strength is marked in education, medicine, law, nursing, economics, and biomedical science.

Enrollment is about 13,500, split nearly evenly between undergraduates and graduate or professional students, with a moderate international share. Alumni include economist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, who completed a Ph.D. at Vanderbilt, former senator Lamar Alexander, and novelist James Patterson.

Doctoral programs follow coursework, examinations, and a dissertation; Owen, Law, Peabody, and the medical and nursing schools offer professional master's degrees, the J.D., and the M.D. The year is two semesters. Ph.D. and many biomedical students receive stipends; professional programs use scholarships. Graduate housing and laboratories sit on or beside the main campus, with Nashville's hospital economy close at hand.

In the Grad School Navigator directory, Vanderbilt University lists 76 graduate programs across 29 subjects: 34 master's programs and 40 doctoral programs, with the widest choice in biology, education and public health. Vanderbilt University holds rank 52 in the GSN Overall University Ranking.