A university is an institution of higher education and of research, which grants academic degrees. A university provides both tertiary and quaternary education.
The first
European Medieval universities were established in
Italy and
France in the
Middle Ages for the study of
law,
medicine, and
theology. Before that, similar institutions already existed in the Islamic world, notably in
Cairo. The most important
Asian university was
Nalanda, in
Bihar,
India, where the second century
Buddhist philosopher Nagarjuna was based.
In Europe young men proceeded to the university when they had completed the study of the trivium: the preparatory arts of grammar, rhetoric, and logic and the quadrivium: arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy.
In the United Kingdom, a University is instituted by Royal Charter and only institutions with such a charter can award degrees of any kind.
- academy - admission[?] - alumnus - aula[?] - business schools - campus - college - dean - degree - diploma[?] - discipline[?] - dissertation - faculty - fraternities and sororities - graduate student[?] - graduation - perpetual student - Privatdozent - professor - rector - research - scholar - student - tenure[?] - tuition - universal access
See also: List of colleges and universities, School and university in literature