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This article concerns Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut; a number of other colleges and universities have names that include Wesleyan.

Wesleyan University
Established:	1831
Type:	private coeducational liberal arts college
Endowment:	~ $835 million
President:	Michael S. Roth
Faculty:	350
Undergraduates:	2,700
Postgraduates:	200
Location:	Middletown, CT, USA
Campus:	Small city, 360 acres
Athletics:	29 varsity teams, 11 club teams
Nickname:	Cardinals
Website:	www.wesleyan.edu

Wesleyan University is a highly selective^[1] private liberal arts college founded in 1831 and located in Middletown, Connecticut. Wesleyan is the third oldest college in Connecticut, after Yale University (1701) and Trinity College (1823). Founded by Methodist leaders and prominent residents of Middletown, the now secular university was the first institution to be named after John Wesley, the Protestant theologian who was the founder of Methodism. There are about twenty other unrelated colleges and universities subsequently named after Wesley.

Today, Wesleyan is one of the nation's most highly ranked colleges.^[2] Wesleyan occupies a position in American higher education between the large research universities and the smaller liberal arts institutions. The University emphasizes undergraduate instruction, but also supports and funds graduate research in many academic disciplines. Wesleyan, along with Amherst and Williams Colleges, constitute the historic "Little Three" colleges. Wesleyan also is a member of the Twelve-College Exchange Program which includes Amherst, Bowdoin, Connecticut, Dartmouth, Mount Holyoke, Smith, Trinity, Vassar, Wellesley, Wheaton, and Williams.