In 2007 Yale bought the 136 acre former Bayer Healthcare Research Campus and renamed it West Campus. With 17 buildings and more than a million square feet of office and warehouse space Yale plans to use the campus as a collaborative, inter-disciplinary research center. Some of the early focuses will be on molecular and cellular biology and gene sequencing. Yale will also pursue partnerships with industry on nanotechnology and pharmaceutical research. Art and artifact restoration will also be done at the new campus.

In recent years Yale University has worked to move research into the commercial sector. The Yale Office of Cooperative Research (OCR) works with Yale researchers to identify inventions that may ultimately become commercial and consumer products and services. Yale OCR staff also engages in industrial partnerships to license Yale inventions.

Yale currently is helping develop 6 new companies: Axomedis, New Haven Pharmaceuticals, Advanced Orthopedic Technologies, 3primiR, CBT4CBT and CardioPhotonics. This is in addition to existing successful relationships with Vion, Achillion, Proteolix, Helix Therapeutics, Rib-X, Shire, Pharmasset and Tigris.

Yale University also encourages students to follow their entrepreneurial ideas. Yale University established the Yale Entrepreneurial Institute (YEI) to help undergraduate and graduate Yale students start scalable new ventures. In addition to assistance and operating space, YEI offers several programs and forums that are open to both Yale students and the New Haven community. YEI works in conjunction with the Yale Entrepreneurial Society (YES), which is a student run organization, to help students learn about being successful entrepreneurs.

Yale is in the midst of a 5-year $3.5 billion dollar capital expenditure program. That effort includes expanding the number of students attending Yale by 15% with the construction of 2 new residential colleges. Yale is also creating a School of Engineering and Applied Sciences on campus.

Along with the establishment of the West Campus Yale continues to invest in the community. The University is the largest employer in New Haven, with over 11,000 employees. Yale's spending on payroll and benefits and its purchasing of goods and services make a direct economic impact of more than $1 billion per year in Connecticut. And over 10,000 public school students in New Haven participate in free University-sponsored programs on the campus each year.

Through Yale’s Office of New Haven and State Affairs the school actively engages with community leaders and businesses to improve the region as a whole. Recently Yale created the Economic Development Corporation of New Haven to advance economic development efforts.