The world's oldest university is still teaching today
The University of Bologna, founded in 1088, is the world's oldest continuously operating university, a student-led institution that shaped academic traditions and still thrives today.
Founded in 1088, the University of Bologna is the Western world's oldest continuously operating university. It began as a student-led initiative for legal studies, where students organized to hire professors, a revolutionary model that shaped early universities. Expanding beyond law, it became a cornerstone of medieval scholarship, influencing figures like Dante Alighieri and Nicolaus Copernicus. Today, with over 85,000 students, it continues to embody intellectual freedom and the enduring value of higher education, demonstrating its timeless impact on academic traditions.