Yeshiva University Yeshiva University is a private research university with four campuses in New York City. The university's undergraduate schools — Yeshiva College, Stern College for Women, and Syms School of Business — offer a dual curriculum inspired by Modern-Centrist-Orthodox Judaism's hashkafa (philosophy) of Torah Umadda ("Torah and secular knowledge"), combining academic education with the study of the Torah. While the majority of students at the university are of the Jewish faith, many students, especially at the Cardozo School of Law, the School of Business, the Graduate School of Psychology, and the Medical School, are not Jewish. Yeshiva University is an independent institution chartered by New York State. It is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education and by several professional agencies. History Yeshiva university is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States that combines Jewish scholarship with studies in the liberal arts, sciences, medicine, law, business, social work, Jewish studies and education, and psychology. It has its roots in the Etz Chaim Yeshiva founded in 1886 on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, a cheder-style elementary school founded by Eastern European immigrants that offered study of Talmud along with some secular education, including instruction in English. The rabbinical seminary was chartered in 1897. As of August 2012, Yeshiva University enrolls approximately 6,400 undergraduate students, 3,500 graduate students, and 1,000 students at its affiliated high schools - Yeshiva University High School for Boys and Yeshiva University High School for Girls - and Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. It conferred 1,822 degrees in 2007 and offers community service projects serving New York, Jewish communities, the United States and Canada. The university has run an operating deficit for seven consecutive years. In 2014, it lost $84 million, and in 2013, it suffered a loss of $64 million. In March 2015, the faculty of Yeshiva College passed a "no-confidence motion" against Richard Joel, the university president. Professor Gillian Steinberg, a member of the Yeshiva College executive committee, told The New York Jewish Week that the vote was meant to “signal donors in a meaningful way” and “indicate that the board of trustees is moving in the wrong direction.” In November 2012, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education repeatedly warned the University "that its accreditation may be in jeopardy because of insufficient evidence that the institution is currently in compliance with Standard 10 (Faculty) and Standard 14 (Assessment of Student Learning)." On June 26, 2014 the Middle State Commission on Higher Education, which accredits the University "reaffirmed accreditation," but requested a progress report "evidence that student learning assessment information is used to improve teaching and learning." This was accepted by the commission on November 17, 2016 (wherein the University met the minimum requirements for accreditation). In January 2016, the university disclosed plans to cede almost half of its $1 billion endowment to the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, as the medical college enters a separate joint venture with Montefiore Health System. Presidents Bernard Revel 1915—1940 Samuel Belkin, 1943—1975 Norman Lamm, 1976—2003 Richard M. Joel, 2003—2017 Ari Berman, 2017—present Academics The university's academic programs are organized into the following schools: Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law Yeshiva College (Yeshiva University) Stern College for Women Syms School of Business Wurzweiler School of Social Work Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology Katz School of Science and Health Programs in the seminary are organized into the Belz School of Jewish Music and the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. Rankings The U.S. News & World Reports 2020 "America's Best