Vanderbilt University
Private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States
Vanderbilt University Rankings
Vanderbilt University was founded in 1873 as the Central University of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South (known as Central University, for short).
The largest benefactor of the new university was the railroad and shipping magnate, Cornelius Vanderbilt, who contributed $1 million—the equivalent of roughly $20 million in today’s dollars. Vanderbilt died in 1877, and later the same year Central University was renamed in honor its main benefactor.
In 1914, the Methodist Church severed its ties to Vanderbilt.
Today, the university is organized into ten colleges and schools. The student body numbers more than 13,000 individuals.
Vanderbilt is associated with nine Nobel laureates, to wit:
Chemistry–
- Biochemist, Stanford Moore
- Molecular biologist, Sidney Altman
Physiology or Medicine–
- Molecular biologists, Salvador Luria and Max Delbrück
- Biochemists, Stanley Cohen and Earl Sutherland
- Neuroscientist, Paul Greengard
Peace–
- Bangladeshi economist and micro-banking pioneer, Muhammad Yunus
- US Vice President and climate activist, Al Gore
Vanderbilt is also linked to the Fields Medalists—Vaughan Jones and Alain Connes.
Other prominent Vanderbilt-connected individuals include the following:
- Mathematicians, D.M. Smith, Michael Plummer, Edward Saff, Mark Sapir, Guoliang Yu & Aleksandr Olshansky
- Computer scientist, Paul Hudak
- Philosophers, Richard M. Weaver, Sandra J. Rosenthal, John Lachs, John Heil, Tom Rockmore & Robert Arrington
- Poets Allen Tate, John Crowe Ransom, Randall Jarrell, James Dickey & Diann Blakely
- Poet and novelist, Robert Penn Warren
- Novelist, Ellen Gilchrist
- Short fiction author, Lorrie Moore
- Non-fiction author, Michelle Alexander
- Crime author, James Patterson
- Playwright, William Inge
- Literary scholar, Cleanth Brooks
- Artist, Red Grooms
- Bassoonist, Peter Kolkay
- Classical composers, Michael Alec Rose & Evan Mack
- Musicologist, George Pullen Jackson
- Popular singer-songwriters, Amy Ray, Amy Grant & Chris Stapleton
- Singer, actor, and TV personality, Dinah Shore
- Film director, Delbert Mann
- Film scholar, Sam Girgus
- Film critic, Joe Bob Briggs (John Irving Bloom)
- Astronomers, Edward Emerson Barnard, Carl Keenan Seyfert & J. Davy Kirkpatrick
- Physicists, Joseph Melvin Reynolds & Kenneth Galloway
- Space scientist, Herbert Gursky
- Electrical engineers, Sokrates Pantelides & Kimberly Bryant
- Chemists, Charles Baskerville, Charlotte Froese Fischer, Jens Meiler & Dorothy J. Phillips
- Geologist, James Perrin Smith
- Biophysicist, John Wikswo
- Molecular biologists, Peter Walter, Tom Maniatis & Ghanshyam Swarup
- Pathologist, Ernest Goodpasture
- Neuroscientists, Mriganka Sur & Lisa Monteggia
- Epidemiologist, Dorothy Horstmann
- Pathologist and medical historian, William A. Pusey
- Cardiothoracic surgeons, Norman Shumway & Levi Watkins
- Biomedical engineer, Anita Mahadevan-Jansen
- Psychologists, John Ridley Stroop, Logan Wright & Shirley Collado
- Psychiatrists, Carol Tamminga, Jonathan Metzl & John Fryer
- Historians, William Yandell Elliott, Sheldon Hackney, Louis R. Harlan, Mark A. Noll & Neil McMillen
- Economists, Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen, Henry Manne, Herman Daly, Markus Brunnermeier, Martha Bailey, Myrna Wooders, Carolyn Heinrich & Faisal Basri
- Political scientists, Cullen Gosnell, Lee Siegelman & Larry Bartels
- Archaeologist, Edward Craig Morris
- Journalist, political commentator, and biographer, David Maraniss
- Political commentator and humorist, Roy Blount, Jr.
- Journalist, Richard Quest
- TV journalist, David Brinkley
- Former US Supreme Court Justice, James Clark McReynolds
- Present Kentucky Governor, Andy Beshear
- Present Texas Governor, Greg Abbott
- Former US Senator Jim Sasser
- Former US Senator and actor, Fred Thompson
- Current US Senators, Lamar Alexander & John N. Kennedy
- Former US Vice President, John Nance Garner
Admissions
What does this school look for?
Annual Applications
34,313
Acceptance
10%
Graduation Rate
92%
Median SAT Score
1505
Median ACT Score
34
Costs
How much does it cost to attend?
Tuition (in-state)
$48,600
Fees (in-state)
$1,216
| Income | Average Net Cost |
|---|---|
| 0-30K | $3,965 |
| 30K-48K | $3,525 |
| 48K-75K | $8,529 |
| 75K-110K | $15,085 |
| 110K+ | $38,132 |
After Graduation
Averages for 10 years after enrolling
Avg Earnings
$86,200
Employed
91%
Campus Life
What's it like to attend this school?
The People
Full time on-campus stats
Student Body
11K
Under-Grads
7K
Graduates
4K
The Campus
Where will you be attending?
Location
2101 West End Avenue,
Nashville TN
37240
On Campus Crime Rates
Property Crime
30 per 100k
Violent Crime
3 per 100k
What is Vanderbilt University known for?
Our answer to this is to show you the disciplines in which a school's faculty and alumni have had the highest historical influence. A school may be influential in a discipline even if they do not offer degrees in that area. We've organized two lists to show where they are influential and offer corresponding degrees, and where they are influential through scholarship although they don't offer degrees in the disciplines.
Top areas of influence with degrees offered
Other areas of influence
Influential People
Who are Vanderbilt University's Most influential alumni?
Vanderbilt University's most influential alumni faculty include professors and professionals in the fields of Nursing, Business, and Medical. Vanderbilt University’s most academically influential people include Muhammad Yunus, Robert Penn Warren, and Allen Tate.