Touro University

Touro University is a private Jewish university based in New York City, New York. It was founded by Bernard Lander in 1971, and named for Isaac and Judah Touro. It is a part of the Touro University System. Its mission includes a strong focus on "transmit[ting] and perpetuat[ing] the Jewish heritage". The college has about 5500 undergraduates, with a teaching staff of 1242, of which over a third are full-time. It has about 4000 graduate students. About 70% of undergraduates and nearly 80% of graduate students are female. Among undergraduates, some 4% are Asian, 15% are black, 8% are Hispanic and 64% are white. The four-year graduation rate is 46%. History Touro College was founded by Orthodox rabbi and academic sociologist Bernard Lander, who named it for Isaac Touro, an Orthodox rabbi, and his son Judah Touro, a businessman and philanthropist. Lander's aim was to provide education for Jewish people, combining professional courses with Torah studies. The college received its charter as a private, four-year liberal arts college from the Board of Regents of the State of New York in 1970, and opened its doors in 1971. In its first year it had thirty-five students, all men. A section for women was opened in 1974. The college was accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education in 1976; accreditation was reaffirmed in 2015.