Yale University comprises three major academic components: Yale College (the undergraduate program), the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and the professional schools. In addition, Yale encompasses a wide array of centers and programs, libraries, museums, and administrative support offices. Approximately 11,250 students attend Yale.

Some people think of Yale University primarily as an undergraduate school, Yale College. This Connecticut college is indeed well known for the strength of its college, where its 5,200 students learn to lead and serve not only through a strong academic curriculum but also by participation in a host of extracurricular activities, from athletics to community service. Yale students are famous for forming and shaping their own clubs and organizations. More than 240 student organizations now exist, some over a century old and others formed just this year.

Yale University is also a major research university. Led by a distinguished faculty, this Connecticut college carries on its education and research on the graduate level in eleven graduate and professional schools: the graduate school of arts and sciences, divinity, forestry & environmental studies, law, management, medicine, nursing, and four schools of the arts: architecture, art, drama, and music. The Connecticut college is home to one of the world's great libraries and three outstanding public museums and galleries-Peabody Museum of Natural History, the University Art Gallery, and the Center for British Art-that help to enrich the cultural climate of the university and city.