History and Divisions

History of the University

Privately endowed, The Johns Hopkins University was founded in 1876 as the first true American university on the European model: a graduate institution with an associated preparatory college, a place where knowledge would be created and assembled, as well as taught. The men and women on the Hopkins faculty achieve a balance between their activities in scholarship and research and their commitment to teaching. Their active involvement as leaders in their professional fields cannot help but benefit their students.

Divisions of the University

The university is comprised of 10 divisions, nine of which are degree-granting schools. The schools of Arts and Sciences and Engineering share the Homewood campus. The School of Education also offers courses at Homewood, as well as in Columbia, downtown Baltimore, and Montgomery County. The Advanced Academic Programs of the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences offers courses in Washington, as well as in Montgomery County and at Homewood. The Engineering for Professionals Program offers courses in muliple locations throughout the Baltimore/Washington region as well as online. The Carey Business School offers courses at Baltimore Harbor East, Columbia, Montgomery County, and Washington, D.C. The schools of Medicine and of Public Health are in East Baltimore, next to the renowned Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions (JHMI) and in 1984 these two schools were joined by the School of Nursing. The Peabody Institute, one of the leading professional schools of music in the United States, became a formal affiliate of the university in 1977. It is located in the historic Mount Vernon section of Baltimore, about one mile from the Homewood campus. The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) is in Washington, D.C., with centers for foreign study in Bologna, Italy, and Nanjing, China. The one university division that does not offer formal courses is the Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), noted for its contributions to the applied sciences in a variety of research fields. APL headquarters are midway between Baltimore and Washington.