*Ed. note: The following description of Tulane University was authored prior to Hurricane Katrina and the devastation wreaked on the university and the city of New Orleans by that meteorological anomaly in 2005. Tulane University, located on St. Charles Avenue, in New Orleans, Louisiana, was founded in 1834, as the Medical College of Louisiana. It was established as a private university in 1884, following the reorganization of the public university of Louisiana. It was named in honor of Paul Tulane, a wealthy merchant who bequeathed his belongings to start a university for the city. The university is an outstanding research university, which is divided into 11 colleges and schools. The undergraduate programs are centered mainly on liberal arts, sciences, and certain professions. Advanced degrees such as engineering, sciences, social sciences, humanities, and the fine arts are offered through a separate Graduate School. It also has a University College providing continuing education for the New Orleans community. The university has nine libraries containing 2.2 million volumes, 14,000 periodicals, and 1.6 million government documents. The Howard-Tilton Memorial Library is the university’s main library, which has major academic and cultural resources. It houses the Latin American Library and the Maxwell Music Library. The Rudolph Matas Medical Library is located in the School of Medicine. Tulane University has a student community of more than 13,000 from across the world. It offers overseas study for all its students before graduation at the Center for International Studies. Their goal is to prepare students for having a perfect understanding of the global society. The center sponsors 25 study abroad programs in different destinations worldwide. Tulane University is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Its Freeman School of Business is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.