Central European University

Central European University (CEU; German: Zentraleuropäische Universität, Hungarian: Közép-európai Egyetem) is a private research university in Vienna. The university offers graduate and undergraduate programs in the social sciences and humanities, which are accredited in Austria and the United States. The university also has a non-degree research and civic engagement presence in Budapest. It is a member of The European University of Social Sciences and Europaeum.

CEU was founded in 1991 by Hungarian-American investor and philanthropist George Soros, who provided it with a $250 million endowment in 2001, making the university one of the wealthiest in Europe, especially on a per-student basis. The university is considered elite and prestigious.

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 Revolutions of 1989 and concomitant democratisation. A central tenet of the university's mission is the promotion of Austrian-British philosopher Karl Popper's idea of open society, a result of its close association with the Open Society Foundations.