Yale's roots can be traced back to the 1640s, when colonial clergymen led an effort to establish a college in New Haven, Connecticut, to preserve the tradition of European liberal education in the New World.
In 1718 the school was renamed "Yale College" in gratitude to the Welsh merchant Elihu Yale, who had donated the proceeds from the sale of nine bales of goods together with 417 books and a portrait of King George I.
Today, international students make up nearly nine percent of the undergraduate student body, and 16 percent of all students at the university.
Yale has matured into one of the world's great universities. Its 11,000 students come from all 50 American states and from 108 countries. The Yale School of Management was founded in 1974.