A university is an establishment of Higher education whose objective is the production of the knowledge (research), its conservation and its transmission (higher learning). Peirce, an American philosopher defined in 1891 the University like “an association of men….equipped and privileged by the State, so that the people can receive a formation (guidance) intellectual and that the theoretical problems which emerge during the development of civilization can be solved”.

The entry at the university is generally restricted with those which have beforehand a diploma of secondary education. The number of students in the universities of the world is assembled out of arrow during all the twentieth century, especially since the second world war. Nowadays a good performance of the universities and more generally of the Higher education is regarded as an economic asset. Also, the large European countries to support international competition launched out since ten year in a movement of reflection and reform of their universities.

Some dates

Occident

-367: The Académie is founded by Plato with Athens. Other great institutions of the ancient Greece are in the towns of Kos, Rhodos like in the musaeum and the Bibliothèque of Alexandria.

271: The foundation of the Academy of Gundishapur mark the catch of the torch by the Persian Empire. Another great institution of the Islamic world is the Université Al-Azhar Cairo, founded in 971. This time corresponds to the rise of the Sciences and Islamic technology.

859: Foundation of the first medieval university in Europe, the University of Magnaura, by Gears, regent with Constantinople.

1088: Foundation of the University of Bologna, the oldest university of the western world. It took the name of Alma MATER studiorum by a decree of 2000.

1150: Foundation of the University of Paris.

1167 ( cca. ): Foundation of the University of Oxford, which adopts the model of operation in force in Paris.

13th century: Development of the first University S, school Scholastic; Albert Large the introduces Greek philosophy and science (Aristote, Euclide) and Arabic into the European universities.

1209: Foundation of the University of Cambridge.

1218: Foundation of the University of Salamanque by Alfons IX of Leon.

1220: The cardinal Conrad d' Urach, papal legate Honorius III, creates the medical school of Montpellier (France), the oldest faculty of Médecine in activity in the world.

1229: Foundation of the University of Toulouse.

1257: Foundation of the Sorbonne to Paris by the French theologist Robert de Sorbon

1290: Foundation of the University of Coimbra (Portugal).

1303: Foundation of the University of Avignon

1331: Foundation of the University of Cahors

1348: The emperor Charles IV founds the Université Charles of Prague.

1364: Casimir Large the founds the Université jagellonne of Cracow (Poland)

1386: Foundation of the University of Heidelberg

1425: Foundation of the the University of Louvain by a pontifical Bubble of the pope Martin V

1432: Foundation of the University of Caen by Henri VI of England. It was refondée in 1452 by Charles VIII of France.

1434: Foundation of the University of Catane by Alphonse V of Aragon.

1441: Foundation of the University of Bordeaux by a pontifical Bubble of the pope Eugene IV.

1477: Foundation of the University of Uppsala in Sweden, oldest and the most re-elected Scandinavia.

1502: Foundation of the University of Wittenberg, where then sign Martin Luther before starting the Protestant Réforme studies.

1537: Foundation of the University of Lausanne in Switzerland.

1548: Foundation of the University of Rheims

1579: Foundation of the University of Vilnius in Lithuania

1809: Foundation of the Humboldt University of Berlin, on the initiative of the liberal reformer of education, and linguist, Wilhelm von Humboldt.

North Africa and the Middle East

832: The caliph Abbaside Haroun rear-Rachid founds the houses of wisdom.

859: Foundation of the university Quaraouiyine with Fès, Morocco, first university in the Arab and Islamic world.

970: Foundation of the University Al-Azhar with the Cairo.

The East

-2257 with -2208: For the period Yu, the first institutions are founded in China.

258: Foundation of the University of Nankin, one of the oldest institutions of higher education of the world.

1895: Foundation of the University Peiyang (University of Tianjin) with Tianjin, the first modern Chinese university.

Structures and statute of the universities

The word university comes from Latin Universitas magistrorum and scholarium which indicates in the beginning the corporation of the teachers and the students of the same city. The universities today are generally divided into academic departments, schools or faculties (called in France nowadays Unités of Formation and Research). Into the United States certain establishments which would be classified, in France, under name University are integrated into universities. For example a business school such as the Harvard Business School is a department of the university of Harvard. That leads Jacques Mistral to see Harvard like a federation of universities (Harvard Law School, John F Kennedy School off Government, Harvard Medical School, Harvard School off Public Health, Graduate School off Design etc). A university can be:
  • is public , in other words controlled and financed by a community, system largely practiced in France for example where higher education remains primarily field of the State, this one conferring a certain autonomy to them. Paradoxically the State in France does not entrust the training of its personnel to the universities but since the medium of the 18°siécle to the administrative universities.

  • is private . It was in this form that the first universities were created. The system remains very widespread in certain countries, in particular the United States of America. It should be noted that private does not want inevitably to say that they are establishments which seek to make profit. To the United States of many universities belong to foundations, associations or congregations.

Universities and economic growth

The universities, and overall the whole of the establishments of Higher education, are nowadays regarded by the economists as being able to be vectors of economic growth (endogenous Theory of growth). Recent studies insisted, on the one hand on the fact that according to whether the country were close or far from the “technological border”, the characteristics of the system of higher education were to evolve/move and on the other hand, on the importance of the relations between the universities and their geographical environment (concept of Pole of competitiveness).

Approaches the technological Frontière and evolution of the universities

See also: technological Border

From a study of 2004, entitled “Education and economic growth”, from Philippe Aghion and Elie Cohen it comes out that according to whether the country is far or close to the “technological border” i.e., nowadays, from the technological level of the United States, the requirements as regards education system vary. In the first case, the country is in phase of correction, like was to it France after the Second world war. What counts then it is initially the Secondary education. Contrary to that one approaches the technological border, higher education, in particular the universities, become much more important. Indeed, then the country is not any more in the imitation but in creation, in the invention of the products and the services of tomorrow. From where interest for the countries, such as France, which approach the technological Frontière to have universities of world rank more directed towards research and the creativity. That passes also sometimes by organisational changes intended to make the universities more reactive and nearer from the economic actors. Nowadays the development of the new technologies of information and the communication (NTIC) reinforces this feature.

Universities and Pole of competence

See also: Cluster (economy), Pole of competence

For Christian Blanc “the economy rests on the exchange of two types of knowing: on the one hand knowledge formalized, codified, written, i.e. information and on the other hand the tacit knowledge, which makes it possible to use information, to consider of it quality to apply it to a concrete problem, or knowledge. Knowledge is necessary to creation”. However if information circulates universally, knowledge as definite higher remainder more localized. It is the idea that there is behind the American term of “cluster” that Michael Porter defined as “a group of companies and institutions sharing the same field of competence, close relations geographically, connected between them and complementary”. Among the famous examples of Cluster, it is possible to quote Silicon Valley around the Université of Stanford. The universities in the case of play the “clusters” called in France Pole of competitiveness a key function because it is on them that rests in very great part the capacities of innovation. For White White so that a pole of competitiveness is effective, it is necessary that the levers of competitiveness is between the hands of the authorities which manage the local perimeters, as it is the case in Spanish Catalogne for example and than the universities themselves have a strong autonomy which make them able “to assume important responsibilities”. Also, today in the developed countries (the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain,…), like besides in the others (the India around Bangalore,…) relations between the Universities or the University S, centers of Research and development, and the Entreprise S tend to being organized in basins of employment Territoriaux, within the framework of Pôles of competence and projects of territorial economic Intelligence.

Universities in the world

August 1st

Universities in the United States

See also: List of the American universities

The university system of this country is nowadays regarded as very good level, even like the first in the world, so much so that it is often used as reference. The study of the university of Shanghai of 2004 place 17 universities of the United States in the 20 first, Harvard appearing in first position.

The American university system developed much at the end of the 19° century with the creation of many universities of which some are extremely known today: University Stanford (1891) in California, University Johns-Hopkins (1876), University Cornell (1865), University of Chicago (1892) etc. These universities will adopt the German model partly and will combine teaching and research. In addition, it will be quickly introduced courses which in Europe, “because of prejudices inherited the company precapitalist, are not considered to be worthy of the university it is the case of finance and the trade with creation dice 1881 of the Wharton School off Finance of the Université of Pennsylvania. In France, of commercial universities will be also founded at that time (HEC created in 1881) but will be placed out of the universities. The force of the university executives is then a distinctive element of the American system compared to the Germanic and French models.

The American system is very varied. Beside non-profit-making private institutions very prestigious like Stanford or Harvard one finds universities belonging to the States of which some are also re-elected like the Université of Berkeley. In the public universities or private, the basic studies (undergraduate) last four years and lead to the Bachelor Degree . They can be followed by a Master' S Degree in one year or of a PhD in general in three years. Beside the universities one finds Community Colleges which give trainings in two years. Following what, the student can either stop the studies or entering a university. If the term college is in general reserved for short teaching, of the establishments like Boston College or Darmouth College although being entitled for historical reasons college is true universities. The “Carnegie BASIC Classification” distinguishes the Universities giving from the doctorates ( Doctorate-granting Universities (I) ) of the college and universities delivering masters especially ( Master' S Collegues (IIA) ), colleges stopping with the license ( Baccalaureate colleges (IIB) ) and of the associated colleges ( Associate' S Colleges (III)) . The inscription in university depends on the results obtained at the three last year old court of college and scores obtained with tests: the SAT (Standardized Aptitude Tests) and the AP (Advanced Placements)

Universities in France

See also: University in France

The universities were removed by the Revolution. Under the Empire was founded in 1808 an imperial university whose certain characteristics perdurent: strong centralization and strict disciplinary cutting in faculties. These features will be attenuated initially in 1893 by the creation of universities per city then by the law Faure of 1968. Despite everything disciplinary cutting remains marked and limited enough autonomy

In 1938, the universities in France counted 60.000 students, this figure passes to 300.000 in 1968 to 1.515.000 to the re-entry 2001-2002. To the beginning of the year 2000, approximately 500.000 students followed a course of letters and social sciences, 350.000 in right and economic scenes, a little more than 200.000 in sciences and 140.000 in the sector of health. The question of knowing why so many students move towards dies offering few direct outlets intrigued the researchers. For Fave-Bonnet (1997), it would be about a fallback position more undergone than wanted, for Alain Renaut on the contrary, that would translate a request for general culture. Jacques Mistral to satisfy this request pleads for university Colleges where the students could “consolidate the fruits of secondary education”, “learn the languages and the codes from the life in society”, “to satisfy curiosities varied” “to look further into a discipline gradually” and to thus start their specialization.

In their report/ratio with the CAE (the Economic Council of Analysis), Philippe Aghion and Elie Cohen estimated that if the French universities and more generally higher education in France were adapted to an economy in phase of correction, they were it much less with one economy close to the “technological border”. So that the French universities can fully play their part in this situation, it would be necessary for these authors to return on double cut founder of the higher education and the Recherche to France namely: the dissociation of education and research on the one hand, and cutting between selective and nonselective formations on the other hand. Indeed, an economy of knowledge requires on the one hand a complementarity increased between applied research, basic research and doctoral teaching and on the other hand that the leaders themselves are trained with research. Within the framework of an economy close to the technological border, it is important to invest in the superior. In 2001, the United States had invested 2.3% of their GDP (1.1% in private public investments and 1.2% in investment) in this field against 1.1% in France (1% public, 0.1% private). In their report/ratio Philippe Aghion & Elie Cohen pled for an incremental approach i.e. for series of measure of weak widths but likely to put the actors moving and capacity to adapt the reforms. On the other hand, of the economists such Jean-Herve Lorenzi or Michel Mougeot estimates that the incremental step would not be with the height of the stakes

The Universities in the United Kingdom

August 1st

If the two most known universities are also oldest Oxford and Cambridge, at the end from the ten ninth century one attends the creation of many establishments: University of Manchester (1851), University of Aberystwyth (1874) to the Wales, London School off Economics (1895) etc. In 1861 Oxford and Cambridge dreamed 2.400 students, this figure passed to 5.881 in 1901 to exceed 10.000 in 1931. Currently these two universities together accommodate approximately 35.000 students. The universities of Oxford and Cambridge elected each one a deputy with the House of Commons until the end of the second world war. William Ewart Gladstone was elected a long time by the university of Oxford. It is also him which with the beginning of the year 1850, proceeded to a reform of the university at the same time as it made much so that the post offices of the English public office are provided by contest.

See too

Related articles

Lists of universities

; In Europe:

; In Africa:

; In America:

  • Canada of which Quebec
  • the United States of America
  • Peru
  • Mexico of which http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexique#.C3.89ducation

; In Asia:

Classifications of universities

International:

  • academic Classification of the world universities
    • academic Classification of the world universities 2005
  • Classification of the Times Higher Education Supplement

Nationals:

Random links:Ribemont-on-anchors | Ohmstal | Praslin (Seychelles) | My friend Grompf | Jean-Gabriel Perboyre