Oldest Universities in the World

Source: Wikipedia

Oldest Universities in the World

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Key Findings

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University of Siena leads in Founded (Year) with 1,240.

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Average Founded (Year): 1,170 · median: 1,180.

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Gap: University of Siena is 1.1× larger than University of Bologna.

About This Dataset

Oldest Universities in the World

Universities ranked by their founding date, recognising the oldest continuously operating institutions of higher education. The University of Bologna, founded in 1088, is widely recognised as the world's oldest university in continuous operation, followed by Oxford and the University of Salamanca.

Analysis

University of Siena (1,240), University of Naples (1,224) and University of Padua (1,222) take the top three in Founded (Year). Values run from 1,240 at the top to 1,088 at the bottom in Founded (Year), a spread of 152. First and second are separated by 16, so the leader sits inside the field rather than apart from it. Below the top two the field is tightly packed: the remaining 6 run from 1,222 down to 1,088 Founded (Year).

Data Insights Below

Data Insights

Numbers, trends & sources behind this chart

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Data Points

8 categories · 1 year

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Top Value

1,240

University of Siena

Founded (Year) · All Time

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Metrics

Founded (Year)

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Period

All Time

Single year snapshot

Methodology & source

Data source: Wikipedia
Coverage: 8 entities · 8 observations
Measure: Founded (Year)
Last updated: 6 September 2026
Compiled by: The ANYSTAT team, from the source above

How the figures are calculated

Values use the measure and unit named on this page. Consult the dataset description and cited source for coverage, definitions and any unit conversions. Displayed values may be rounded for readability.
Entities are ranked highest-first on their value.

Rankings & Full Data

8 records · Founded (Year) · ranked by All Time

✓ 8 sourced

#	Category	All Time
🥇	University of Siena	1,240
🥈	University of Naples	1,224
🥉	University of Padua	1,222
4	University of Cambridge	1,209
5	University of Paris	1,150
6	University of Salamanca	1,134
7	University of Oxford	1,096
8	University of Bologna	1,088

Data Sources & References

All external sources cited in this dataset

1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Bologna Visit ↗

2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Oxford Visit ↗

3 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Salamanca Visit ↗

4 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Paris Visit ↗

5 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Cambridge Visit ↗

6 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Padua Visit ↗

7 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Naples_Federico_II Visit ↗

8 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Siena Visit ↗

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APA

ANYSTAT. (2026). Oldest Universities in the World [Data set]. Data: Wikipedia. https://anystat.ai/stats/118/oldest-universities-in-the-world

MLA

"Oldest Universities in the World." ANYSTAT, 6 Sep. 2026, https://anystat.ai/stats/118/oldest-universities-in-the-world.

Link for your website

<a href="https://anystat.ai/stats/118/oldest-universities-in-the-world">Oldest Universities in the World</a> (ANYSTAT)

Oldest Universities in the World