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List of oldest universities in continuous operation

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This is a list of the oldest extant universities in the world. To be listed on this page, an educational institution must satisfy the definition of a university at the time of founding; it must have been founded before 1500; and it must have been operational without a significant interruption ever since.

Note that because the awarding of academic degrees for advanced studies was historically a European custom, and the modern definition of a university includes the ability to grant degrees, the oldest institutions of higher learning that have always satisfied the modern definition of a university were in Europe. If, however, the definition is broadened to include ancient institutions that did not originally grant degrees but now do, then some European and non-European institutes predate the University of Bologna (for example, Shangyang(Shang means high and Yang means school) originated before 21st century BC in China, the imperial Nanjing University founded in 258 as a result of the evolution of Shangyang and to be the first comprehensive institution combining education and research and consisted of five faculties in 470, Nalanda University established by the 5th century BC in India, Al-Azhar University founded in 988 in Egypt.

Finally, even within the purview of European universities, there is still some minor, albeit good-natured controversy over who was really "first". The University of Bologna, while it predates the University of Paris, was a university organized by students who then sought out tutors while the latter institution was organized by faculty who then solicited students. Some (especially at Paris) still quibble over which began as a "genuine" university, but it is generally accepted that the University of Bologna came first.

Founded before 1500

Post-1500, oldest universities by country or region

The majority of European countries had universities by 1500. After 1500, universities began to spread to other countries all over the world:

Caveat

The actual date a university started to function is often rather hazy and differs a good deal from legend, or from the date its ancestor-institution was founded. For example, it is generally admitted today that Oxford's foundation cannot be precisely dated, but must lie somewhere in the mid-to-late 12th century. However, the notion that a college could be empowered to give the bachelor's degree is a modern American one; by European terms, Harvard College had already adopted the powers (if not the style) of a university in 1642. The University of Pennsylvania was simply the first American institution to call itself a university; but neither it, Harvard, or any of the seven other Colonial American colleges were nearly as large or diverse as European universities of the time. The first American university to create a modern graduate school and award a Ph.D. degree was Yale University, in 1861.

References


See also

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