Central European University

Central European University (CEU; , ) is a private research university accredited in Hungary, Austria, and the United States, with campuses in Vienna, Budapest and New York. The university maintains graduate and undergraduate programs in the social sciences and humanities, as well as a low student-faculty ratio, and international student body. A central tenet of the university's mission is the promotion of open societies, a result of its close association with the Open Society Foundations. CEU was founded in 1991 by hedge fund manager, political activist, and billionaire philanthropist George Soros, who provided it with an $880 million endowment, making the university one of the wealthiest in Europe, especially on a per-student basis. The university was founded in Central Europe because of a perceived need for an independent and international university for the region, in light of the fall of the Socialist Bloc and concomitant democratisation. History Early years