List of oldest universities in continuous operation This is a
list of the oldest universities in continuous operation . It includes universities founded before
1500 .
Al-Azhar University , Cairo , Egypt , founded 988
University of Bologna , Bologna , Italy , founed 1088
University of Oxford , Oxford , England , founded about 1096
University of Paris , Paris , France , founded 1150
University of Modena, Modena , Italy , founded 1175
University of Cambridge , Cambridge , England , founded about 1208
Salamanca University, Salamanca , Spain , founded 1218
University of Padua, Padua , Italy , founded in 1222
University of Naples, Naples , Italy , founded 1224
University of Siena, Siena , Italy , founded 1240
University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal , founded 1285
Universidad Complutense de Madrid , Madrid , Spain , founded 1293
University of Rome, Rome , Italy , founded 1303
University of Pisa, Pisa , Italy , founded 1343
University of Prague , Prague , Czech Republic , founded 1348
University of Pavia, Pavia , Italy , founded 1361
Jagiellonian University , Kraków , Poland , founded 1364
University of Vienna , Vienna , Austria , founded 1365
University of Pécs, Pécs , Hungary , founded 1367
University of Heidelberg , Heidelberg , Germany , founded 1386
University of Cologne , Cologne , Germany , founded 1388
University of Ferrara, Ferrara , Italy , founded 1391
University of Leipzig , Leipzig , founded 1409
St. Andrews University , St. Andrews , Scotland , founded 1412
Universität Rostock, Rostock , Germany , founded 1419
Catholic University of Leuven , Leuven , Belgium , founded 1425
Poitiers University, Poitiers , France , founded 1431
University of Glasgow , Glasgow , Scotland , founded 1450
University of Freiburg , Baden-Württemberg , Germany , founded 1457
Basel University, Basel , Switzerland , founded 1460;
Uppsala University , Uppsala , Sweden , founded 1477
University of Copenhagen , Copenhagen , Denmark , founded 1479
Eberhard Karls University , Tubingen , Germany , founded in 1477
University of Aberdeen , Aberdeen , Scotland , founded 1494
