Tulane University

Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian university located in New Orleans, Louisiana. Tulane University also has a University College, which provides continuing education courses for the New Orleans community. Tulane University is organized into colleges and schools centered around liberal arts, sciences and certain professions. Tulane University also includes the following professional schools:

Statistics

The following statistics reflect some of the changes at Tulane University between 1998 and 2004. Undergraduate applications received annually have more than doubled since 1998, growing from 7,780 to 17,548. The average SAT scores for incoming students has risen from 1278 to 1347. Application acceptances have lowered from 79% of applicants to 44%. Funding for research and development has nearly doubled, from $68 million to $130 million. The National Institutes of Health funding ranking has risen from 96 to 78. In 2003, Tulane's graduation rate for student-athletes was 79%, ranking 14th among Division I athletic programs.

History

The Tulane University dates from 1834 as the Medical College of Louisiana. With the addition of a law department, it became The University of Louisiana in 1847, a public university. It closed during the Civil War; after reopening, it went through a period of financial challenges. Paul Tulane donated extensive real estate within New Orleans for the support of education; this donation led to the establishment of a Tulane Educational Fund (TEF), whose board of administrators sought to support the University of Louisiana instead of establishing a new university. In response, the Louisiana state legislature transferred control of the University of Louisiana to the administrators of the TEF in 1884. This act created the Tulane University of Louisiana. In 1885, a Graduate Division started, the predecessor to the Graduate School. One year later, gifts from Josephine Louise Newcomb totalling over $3.6 million led to the establishment of H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College within Tulane University. Newcomb was the first coordinate college for women in the United States. In 1894 a College of Technology formed, the forerunner to the College of Engineering.

In the same year the university moved to its present-day uptown campus on St. Charles Avenue, five miles by streetcar from downtown. An Architecture Department originated within the College of Technology in 1907. One year later, Schools of Dentistry and Pharmacy appeared, both temporarily: Dentistry ended in 1928, and Pharmacy six years later. In 1914, Tulane University established a College of Commerce, the first business school in the South.

In 1925 Graduate School was established. Two years later, the Tulane University set up a School of Social Work. The School of Architecture grew out of Engineering in 1950. The School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine dates from 1967. The student-run radio station of the university, WTUL-FM, began broadcasting on campus in 1971. In 2001 the Tulane University Center for Gene Therapy started as the first major center in the U.S. to focus on research using adult stem cells. In July 2004, Tulane received two $30 million donations to its endowment, the largest individual or combined gifts in the university's history. The donations came from Jim Clark, a member of the university's Board, and David Filo, a graduate of its School of Engineering. The gifts had particular significance, since Tulane University had had one of the lowest endowments ($722 million as of June 2004) among the 62 members of the Association of American Universities.