Hokkaido University (北海道大学, Hokkaidō daigaku), or Hokudai (北大), is one of the national universities of Japan. It is a member of the National Seven Universities, which were established as the best national higher education or research institute. It is situated in downtown Sapporo, just north of Sapporo Station, and stretching approximately 2.4 kilometers northward. Hokkaido University (Hokudai for short) was originally founded in 1876 as Sapporo Agricultural College (札幌農學校, Sapporo nōgakkō) by William S. Clark with the help of five faculty members and a first class size of 24 students. It became Hokkaido Imperial University (北海道帝國大學, Hokkaidō teikoku daigaku) on April 1, 1918, during the Taishō period. It was one of nine Imperial Universities. The School of Medicine was established in 1919, at which time the Agricultural College became the Faculty of Agriculture. This was followed by the Faculty of Engineering, the Faculty of Science, and finally in 1947, the Faculty of Law and Literature. The current name of Hokkaido University also came into use in 1947. In 1953, the Graduate School was established.