Limits RegistryPUBLIC RECORD
Limits RegistryThe University of Bologna, in Italy, was founded in 1088 and has operated continuously since — recognized by historians and the university itself as the oldest continuously operating university in the Western world. Older institutions of learning existed elsewhere (such as Al-Qarawiyyin in Morocco, founded 859 CE), but their classification as a 'university' in the same institutional sense is debated among historians.
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The University of Bologna, in Italy, was founded in 1088 and has operated continuously since — recognized by historians and the university itself as the oldest continuously operating university in the Western world. Older institutions of learning existed elsewhere (such as Al-Qarawiyyin in Morocco, founded 859 CE), but their classification as a 'university' in the same institutional sense is debated among historians.
The founding year of the oldest institution of higher education that has continuously operated as a university to the present day.
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Limits Registry. LR-OLDEST-UNIVERSITY. Oldest continuously operating university. 2026.