Brandeis Institution is a private research university located in the Boston suburb of Waltham. Brandeis University was formed on the site of the previous Middlesex University in 1948 as a nonsectarian, coeducational school funded by the Jewish community. Brandeis is the oldest Jewish university in the United States. The institution was established in honour of Louis Brandeis, who was the first Jewish Justice of the United States Supreme Court.
A total of 5,800 students were enrolled on its suburban campus, which spans 235 acres, in the academic year 2018. (95 hectares). The college offers more than 43 majors and 46 minors and two-thirds of undergraduate courses have 20 students or less. It is classified as one of the "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very High Research Activity" and is a member of the Association of American Universities as well as the Boston Consortium, which allows students to cross-register for courses at other institutions such as Boston College, Boston University, and Tufts University. It is also a member of the Association of American Universities and the Boston Consortium.
The university has a strong liberal arts focus and attracts a diverse student body that is both geographically and economically diverse, with 72 percent of non-international undergraduates coming from outside the state, 50 percent of full-time undergraduates receiving need-based financial aid, and 13.5 percent receiving the federal Pell Grant. Students who identify as Jewish account for 34% of the student body. It boasts the eighth-highest percentage of foreign students of any institution in the United States, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Former First Lady of the United States Eleanor Roosevelt, Nobel Prize laureate Roderick MacKinnon, and Fields Medalist Edward Witten are among the university's alumni and affiliates, as are foreign heads of state, congressmen, governors, diplomats, and recipients of the Nobel Prize, Pulitzer Prize, Academy Award, Emmy Award, and MacArthur Fellowship. The university's alumni and affiliates also include Roderick MacKinnon, Nobel Prize laureate Roderick Mac The New England Commission of Higher Education has granted accreditation to Brandeis University, which is located in Boston.