Yonsei University (연세대학교 (延世大學校) ) is a Christian private research university, located in Seoul, South Korea. Established in 1885, it is one of the oldest universities in South Korea, the top private comprehensive universities in South Korea, and is widely regarded as one of the top three comprehensive universities in the country.
Yonsei university is one of four Korean universities ranked in all three ARWU World University Ranking, QS World University Rankings, and The Times World University Ranking in 2010, along with Seoul National University, KAIST, and POSTECH (Pohang University of Science and Technology). Also, Yonsei University was ranked 16th in Asia in 2012 and 129th in the world in 2011 by QS World University Rankings.
The university was formally established in January, 1957 through the union of Yonhi College (연희전문학교; 延禧專門學校) and Severance Union Medical College (세브란스 의과대학; 세브란스 醫科大學). This was a result of a lasting bilateral cooperation between the two colleges that began in the 1920s. The institutions were new to Korea at the time of their inception — Yonhi College was one of the first modern colleges, founded originally as Chosun Christian College (조선기독교대학; 朝鮮基督教大學) in March, 1915, and Severance has its roots in the first modern medical center in Korea, Gwanghyewon (광혜원 廣惠院, House of Extended Grace), founded in April, 1885. As a tribute, the name 'Yonsei' was derived from the first syllables of the names of its two parent institutions, 'Yon; 연; 延' from Yonhi College and 'Sei; 세; 世' from Severance Union Medical College.
As of April 1, 2009, Yonsei University has a main campus in Seoul, a secondary campus in Wonju, South Korea, 26,530 undergraduate students, 11,437 graduate students, and 4,178 faculty members.
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