Founded in 1866, the American University of Beirut bases its educational philosophy, standards, and practices on the American liberal arts model of higher education. A teaching-centered research university, AUB has around 800 instructional faculty and a student body of around 8,000 students. The University encourages freedom of thought and expression and seeks to graduate men and women committed to creative and critical thinking, life-long learning, personal integrity, civic responsibility, and leadership. The University, which was granted institutional accreditation in June 2004 by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools in the United States and reaffirmed in 2016, includes seven faculties: Agricultural and Food Sciences, Arts and Sciences, Engineering and Architecture (Maroun Semaan Faculty​), Health Sciences, Medicine, Nursing (Rafic Hariri School), and ​Business (Suliman S. Olayan School ).​ The Talal and Madiha Zein AUB Innovation Park is, the university's incubator, a unique off-campus facility located in the heart of the Beirut Digital District (BDD) whose goal is to support AUB students, faculty, staff, and alumni seeking to develop innovative ideas into profitable and scalable startups.