The College of William & Mary is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia, chartered in 1693 as the second-oldest institution of higher education in the United States. William & Mary has a long tradition of educating American leaders — three U.S. presidents attended, including Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, and John Tyler. The university is known for its distinctive combination of liberal arts breadth and research opportunities, with approximately 6,200 undergraduates and is consistently ranked among the top public universities in the nation.