Where Was The First University And When Was It Started?

There is a lot of disagreement over this, because it depends how you define university. In ancient India, China and Greece there were institutions of higher learning going back well over 2000 years. In particular, in Bihar in the 5th century BC, in Nanjing in the 3rd century BC, and Athens in the 4th, there were well established and rspected institutions, some of which could confer qualifications similar to degrees.

In the 9th century AD (859) the University of Al Karouine was founded in Fez, Morocco; according to the Guinness Book of Records this is the oldest "modern" university. Another was founded in Cairo in the 10th century.

The oldest university in the western world, and the longest continuously-operating university conferring degrees anywhere in the world, is the university of Bologna, Italy. It was founded in 1088 and is Italy's second-largest university even today.

Other old European universities include Oxford (teaching from 1096, clearly established from 1167), the Sorbonne in Paris in 1253 (there was a University of Paris earlier, in 1215) and Heidelberg in 1386.

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A university is usually taken to mean an institution of higher education, but some people consider a group of students studying together as what defines a university.

The first ever university is surprisingly old - over 4000 years old!! It is felt that the Shangyang University in China, which it is claimed was founded in the 21st century BC was the first one.

The Nalanda University in India was founded in 500 BC in Bihar. It had courses where the successful student received a degree and even had post-graduate courses. These are usually taken as a sign of a university rather than a school.

The University of Constantinople is documented as being founded in 849 and the way it operated is very similar to what we consider to be a university - it carried out research as well as teaching.

The Guiness Book of Records says that University of Al Karaouine in Morocco, founded in 859, is the oldest university.

The University of Oxford was the first English one, in the 11th century, followed by Cambridge. Scottish Universities soon followed - St Andrews (1413), Glasgow (1451), Aberdeen(1495) and Edinburgh (1582). It was several hundred years before England had more than two universities.

Pennsylvania was the first American university in 1765.

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