Higher education timeline

Modern colleges and universities of the European/Western tradition had their beginnings in the ancient Greek culture. Through their ever changing perspectives of teaching, research, and service to the community, these institutions have influenced all universities, worldwide, and are at the heart of or modern world culture. This section presents is a timeline of the beginnings of college and universities that have contributed to the current culture of higher education. Most of the list is drawn from sources within , and is presented in order of the institution’s known, or assumed beginning. The list includes colleges that are no longer in existence.
World Universities: 200 BC to the Present
200 BC, Royal Library of Alexandria, Egypt
117 AD, Istanbul Technical University, Turkey*
300, Law School of Beirut, Lebanon
425, University of Constantinople, Turkey
859, University of Al-Karaouine, Fez, Morocco*
975, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt*
1088, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy*
1150, University of Paris, Paris, France*
1167, University of Oxford, Oxford, England*
1175, University of Modena, Modena, Italy*
1209, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England*
1218, University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain*
1220, University of Montpellier, Montpellier, France*
1222, University of Padua, Padua, Italy*
1224, University of Naples, Naples, Italy*
1229, University of Toulouse, Toulouse, France*
1233, Mustausiriva University, Baghdad, Iraq*
1240, University of Siena, Siena, Italy*
1257, University of Paris, Sorbonne, France,
1290, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal*
1303, University of Rome La Sapienza, Rome, Italy*
1306, University of Orleans, Orleans, France*
1308, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy*
1321, University of Florence, Florence, Italy*
1343, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy*
1346, University of Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain*
1348, Charles University of Prague, Prague, Czech Republic*
1356, University of Angers, Angers, France*
1361, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy*
1364, Cracow Academy, Krakow, Poland*
1365, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria*
1386, Ruprecht Karls University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany*
1391, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy*
1396, University of Zadar, Zadar Croatia*
1398, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, South Korea*
1404, University of Turin, Turin Italy*
1409, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany*
1409, University of Provence, Marseille/Aixen-Provence, France*
1410, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, Scotland*
1419, University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany*
1425, Catholic University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium*
1431, University of Poitiers, Poitiers, France*
1432, University of Caen, Caen France*
1434, University of Catania, Catania, Italy*
1438, University of Lund, Lund, Sweden*
1441, University of Bordeau, Bordeau, France*
1450, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain*
1451, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland*
1453, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey*
1456, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany*
1457, Albert Ludwigs University of Frieburg, Frieburg, Germany*
1460, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland*
1460, University of Nantes, Nantes, France*
1472, Ludwig Maximillians University of Munich, Munich, Germany*
1477, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany*
1477, University of Uppsala, Uppsala, Sweden*
1477, Uppsala University (Catholic University of Uppsala 1477-1515), Uppsala, Sweden*
1479, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark*
1495, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen Scotland*
1499, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid Spain*
1499, University of Valencia*
1538, Santo Tomas de Aquino University, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic*
1538, University of Cordoba, Spain
1538, University of Mexico City, Mexico
1551, National University of Saint Mark, Peru*
1551, National Autonomous University of Mexico (Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico), Mexico*
1551, National University of San Marcos, Lima, Peru*
1559, Academy at Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland,
1562, University of Douai, France,
1570, University of Vilnius (Vilnius Academy), Lithuania*
1572, University of Malta (Collegium Melitense), Malta*
1575, University of Leiden, Netherlands*
1582, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland*
1592, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland*
1595, University of San Carlos, Philippines*
1611, University of Santo Tomas (Santo Rosario *Colegio de Nustra Senora del Santisimo Rosario) Philippines*
1613, National University of Cordoba, Argentina*
1622, Universidad de Chile (Santo Tomas de Aquino), Chile*
1624, Royal and Pontifical Major University of St. Francis Xavier of Chuquisaca, Bolivia*
1632, University of Tartu (Academia Gustaviana 1632-1710) Estonia*
1634, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University (Vasilan College 1634-1653 Princely Academy of Isai (1711-1821), Iasi, Romania*
1635, Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary*
1636, Harvard University (Harvard College), Cambridge, Cambridge(Boston), Massachusetts, USA
1640, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland*
1653, Our lady of the Rosary University, Columba*
1661, University of Lviv, Ukraine*
1663, University Laval, Canada*
1669, University of Zagreb, Croatia*
1676, Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala, Guatemala*
1693, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia, USA
1696, St. John's College, U.S., (King William’s School) Annapolis, Annapolis, Maryland, USA
1701, Yale University (Collegiate School), New Haven, Connecticut, USA
1721, Central University of Venezuela, Venezuela*
1724, Moscow State University (Saint Petersburg State University 1724-1803), Moscow, Russia,
1728, University of Havana, Havana, Cuba*
1742, Moravian College, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA
1743, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, USA
1746, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA
1749, University of Pennsylvania (Academy of Philadelphia), Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, USA
1749, Washington and Lee University (Augusta Academy), Lexington, Virginia, USA
1754, Columbia University (Kings College), New York, New York, USA
1764, Brown University (College of Rhode Island), Providence, Rhode Island, USA
1766, Rutgers/State University of New Jersey (Queen’s College), New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA
1769, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
1772, Salem College (originally -- the Little Girls' School), Winston Salem, North Carolina, USA
1773, Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, USA
1775, Hampden-Sydney College, Hampden-Sydney, Virginia, USA
1778, Belgrade University, Serbia,"(Teachers college 1778, Orthodox Christian Academy, 1794, Great School, 1808)"*
1779, College of Charleston, Charleston, South Carolina, USA
1780, Transylvania University, Kentucky (Historical institution closed in ) ,Kentucky,
1782, Washington College, Chestertown, Maryland, USA
1785, University of New Brunswick, Canada*
1787, University of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh Academy), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
1788, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA
1789, University of King's College, Canada*
1795, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
1801, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, USA
1802, Saint Mary's University, Canada*
1808, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro Brazil*
1810, Queen’s University of Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland*
1811, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway*
1812, Hamilton College, Clinton, New York, USA (Established 1793 as Hamilton-Oneida Academy)
1817, University of Michigan, Anna Arbor, Michigan, USA
1818, Dalhousie University, Canada*
1818, Serampore College, India*
1820, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA
1821, McGill University, Canada*
1821, Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, Ohio, USA
1822, University of Wales, Great Britain*
1823, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA
1827, University of Toronto, Canada*
1827, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA
1829, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa*
1831, New York University, New York, New York, USA*
1831, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA*
1831, LaGrange College, LaGrange, Alabama, USA*
1832, University of Durham, Durham, England
1833, Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio, USA
1836, University of London, London, Great Britain,
1837, University of Athens, Athens, Greece*
1838, Duke University (Brown’s School House), Durham, North Carolina, USA
1839, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, USA
1839, Loras College, Dubuque, Iowa,USA
1846, Grinnell College, Grinnell,Iowa,USA
1847, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras, Honduras*
1847, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA
1850, University of Sydney, Sydney Australia*
1850, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA
1851, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
1853, Cornell College, Mount Vernon, Iowa, USA
1853, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
1855, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA
1855, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA
1856, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, USA
1856, Oregon State University (Corvallis College), Corvallis, Oregon, USA
1856, Seton Hall, South Orange, New Jersey, USA
1858, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, USA
1861, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
1862, University of Maine, Orono, Maine, USA
1862, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, South Dakota, USA
1862, Raga Technical University, Latvia*
1865, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
1866, American University of Beirut, Beirut Lebanon*
1867, University of Illinois Urbana-Campaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA
1869, Algona College, Algona, Iowa, USA (Established 1869, closed 1875)
1869, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA
1869, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA
1869, University of Otago, New Zealand*
1870, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA
1871, Christian Brothers College (Memphis), Memphis, Tennessee, USA
1871, Texas A & M, College Station, Texas, USA
1875, Brigham Young University (Brigham Young Academy), Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
1877, Jackson State University, Jackson, Mississippi, USA
1877, University of Tokyo (Temmonkata), Tokyo, Japan*
1878, Rangoon University, Myanmar*
1881, Drake University, DesMoines, Iowa,USA
1882, University of the Punjab, Pakistan*
1885, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
1885, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
1885, Yonsei University, Korea*
1886, University of Redlands / Los Angeles University, Los Angeles, California, USA
1886, Ewha Womans University, Korea*
1888, Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, USA
1887, Hong Kong College of Medicine*
1887, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
1888, University of Sofia, Bulgaria*
1888, Nanking University (English Language), Nanking, China*
1891, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
1891, Stanford University, Stanford, California,USA
1896, Beiyang University, China*
1898, Imperial University of Capital, China*
1899, Eastern Indiana Normal School (Closed -- location is now Ball State University), Muncie, Indiana, USA
1901, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA
1902, University of Khartoum (Gordon Memorial College), Sudan*
1903, University of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico*
1903, University of Damascus (School of Medicine and Institute of Law), Damascus, Syria*
1905, University of Malaya, Malaysia*
1905, National University of Singapore, Singapore*
1907, St. John's University, Shanghai, China*
1907, University of California Riverside, Riverside, California, USA
1908, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt*
1908, University of the Philippines, Philippines
1909, University of Algiers, Algiers Algeria*
1910, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China*
1917, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand*
1918, Tbilisi State University, Georgia*
1918, Ball State University (Indiana State Normal School), Muncie, Indiana, USA
1919, Yerevan State University, Armenia*
1919, Baku State University, Azerbaijan (Iran)*
1919, American University in Cairo, Cairo, Egypt*
1919, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
1919, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia*
1921, Belarusian State University, Belarus*
1922, Makerere University, Uganda*
1924, Technion, Israel*
1929, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA
1933, Monmouth University, West Long Branch, New Jersey, USA
1934, University of Tehran (Dar al-Funun), Tehran,Iran*
1940, University of Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina*
1948, University of Ghana, Ghana*
1948, University of Ibadan, Nigeria*
1956, University of Baghdad, Bagdad, Iraq*
1962, Agostinho Neto University, Angola*
1962, Eduardo Mondlane University, Mozambique*
1963, University of East Anglia, Norwich, England
1969, University of Pristina, Kosovo*
1976, St. George's University, Grenada*

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