Yale traces its roots to the 1640s. In 1701 the Connecticut legislature adopted a charter to establish a Collegiate School, founded in Saybrook, Connecticut; the trustees later moved it to New Haven. It was renamed Yale College in 1718 in recognition of a donation from the merchant Elihu Yale. Yale is overseen by its president and a board of trustees known formally as the Yale Corporation.
Yale’s fact sheet, which uses 2025 data, lists 6,667 undergraduates, 8,990 graduate students and 3,824 international students. Undergraduates belong to 14 residential colleges. The university has 5,842 faculty, including 3,358 in the School of Medicine, and about 12,000 staff. The president is Maurie McInnis.