The overall culture of your university will have a huge impact on your future success, and that’s why it is important to consider several factors while selecting a European university, such as location, tuition, majors and academics, sports, student life, college ratings, and campus housing.
We’ve compiled a list of some of the finest universities in Europe you may want to study in, but do keep in mind that getting a chance to study in these best universities alone will never guarantee success – your career achievements will depend more on determination and hard work. Here you go with a few nice suggestions. Find your best place!
1. Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain
The Universidad Politecnica de Madrid is an old university with some of its centers being more than a hundred years old. The Schools of Architecture and Engineering is of great importance because it has written the history of Spanish technology for almost two centuries. They do bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees in Business and Social Sciences, Engineering and Science and Technology. At any one time, they will have around 3,000 staff members and 35,000 student enrollments.
2. Universität Hamburg, Germany
At Universitat Hamburg, it is possible to see the six faculties offering almost all the disciplines of a comprehensive university – from economics, law, and social sciences to the humanities, from the informatics (the science of information) and natural sciences to medicine. With more than 5,000 staff members and almost 38,000 student members, it’s one of the largest universities in Germany.
3. Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain
This public institution works under the jurisdiction of the Comunidad Autonoma de Madrid, and is recognized as one of world’s oldest universities, and probably the most prestigious in Spain. The main campus is located in Moncloa area, whereas some of University Colleges are in downtown area. This is a university that does bachelor degrees in Business & Social Sciences, Arts & Humanities, Medicine & Health, Engineering and Science & technology. It is a very big University with over 45,000 students enrolled at any one time and a lot of staff to teach and care for them.
4. University of Oxford, United Kingdom
Originally started offering its services in 1096, University of Oxford is now the oldest English-speaking university in the world with more than 22,000 students in total, including 9,850 graduate students and 11.772 undergraduates. The figures show that most of the undergraduates attending Oxford are from state schools. This university does bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees in Business and Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities, Language and Cultural, Medicine and Health, Engineering and Science and technology. They have over 5,000 staff members. The University has already won Queen’s Anniversary Prizes for Higher Education for as many as nine times, which is more than any other university now.
5. University of Glasgow, United Kingdom
The University of Glasgow is among the oldest seats of learning in the UK, and is currently the 4th oldest university in the entire English-speaking world. It’s one of top 10 earners for research in the UK and is a proud member of the elite Russell Group. They maintain a research-led approach and offer students the opportunities to improve their employability, study abroad, explore a variety of social activities, and take part in work placements as well. The university offers certificate diplomas, bachelor degrees, and master’s degrees in Business and Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities, Language and Cultural, Medicine and Health, Engineering and Science and technology. This is a university that does doctorate degrees in Business and Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities, Medicine and Health, Engineering and Science and technology.
6. Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany
Originally founded in 1810, it now enjoys the title “Mother of all Modern Universities”. It has a great reputation in offering students an all-round humanist education. It was the first of its type, but then the concept spread in the world, leading to the introduction of several universities of the same type. This is a university that does bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees in Arts and Humanities, Business and Social Sciences, Medicine and Health, Language and Cultural, and Science and Technology. They only employ a maximum of 200 staff members but have had as many as 35,000 students.
7. Universiteit Twente, Netherlands
This Dutch university was founded in 1961 and originally started working as a university of technology with an aim to increase the number of academic engineers. It’s currently the only university in the Netherlands with its own campus. They have more than 3,300 scientists and professionals working with each other on cutting-edge research and innovations. The enterprising university has now collaborated with Kennispark Twentee and offers bachelor degrees in Arts and Humanities, Business and Social Sciences, Medicine and Health, Engineering and Science and Technology. They only take on around 7,000 students every year.
8. Università degli Studi di Bologna, Italy
Regarded as the Western world’s oldest university, the University of Bologna has its history intertwined with some great names of literature and science and, at the same time, serves as a point of reference and a keystone for European culture. They are offering 198 degree programs this year and offer bachelor degrees, master’s degrees and doctorate degrees in Arts and Humanities, Business and Social Sciences, Medicine and Health, Language and Cultural, Engineering and Science and Technology. They have over 5,000 staff members and over 45,000 enrolled students at any one time.
9. The London School of Economics and Political Science, United Kingdom
Founded in 1895 with an aim to provide student with some assistance to specialize in the advanced study of the social sciences, the London School of Economics has its campus located in the heart of central London. Subjects pioneered at this institution are criminology, anthropology, social psychology, international relations, and sociology. This university does bachelor’s degrees, master’s degrees and doctorate degrees in Arts and Humanities, and Business and Social Sciences. They only have around 9000 to 10,000 students enrolled, which is why they only have around 1500 staff members maximum. LSE has already given the world more than 35 leaders and heads of state with 16 Nobel Prize winners in peace, economics, and literature.
10. Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium
Founded in 1425, the university is now in business for more than six centuries and is currently the largest university in Belgium. This comprehensive university is also Belgium’s highest-ranked university with campuses across Brussels and Flanders. You can choose from over 70 international study programs here. This university does bachelor degrees in Business & Social Sciences, Arts & Humanities, Medicine & Health and Engineering. They can admit up to 40,000 students and have over 5,000 staff members.
11. Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich, Switzerland
ETH Zurich is actually a federal polytechnic that started functioning in 1855, and is today one of the finest universities in the world. The main campus is in Zurich and offers some of the finest programs in physics, mathematics, and chemistry. This university does bachelor degrees, master’s degrees and doctorate degrees in Engineering, science and technology, and a business and social science master’s and doctorate degree. They have over 5,000 workers and enroll up to 20,000 students. You don’t require formal qualifications but you have to pass the admission test to find a place in this prestigious European university.
12. Universität München, Germany
Ludwig Maximilan is one of the oldest universities in Germany and is based in the Bavarian capital, Munich. It is a highly respected institution having produced 34 Nobel Laureates. Ludwig Maximilian is Germany’s second largest university and overseas registration accounts for 15% of the student body. The university is very much integrated into the Munich landscape the city with various campus sites within the city limits. They do bachelor degrees, master’s degrees and doctorate degrees in Arts & Humanities, Business & Social Sciences, Medicine & Health, Language & Cultural, and Science & technology. They enroll up to 45,000 students and have around 4,000 to 4,500 staff members.
13. Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
Established in 1948, Freie Universitat is located in Dahlem and is always considered one of the finest universities in terms of research work in the world. The university has international liaison offices in Moscow, Cairo, Sao Paulo, New Delhi, Beijing, New York, and Brussels – this is to support its scholars and researchers in reaching out internationally. It’s a full university with as many as 15 departments offering more than 150 degree programs. This university does bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees in Business and Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities, Language and Cultural, Medicine and Health, Science and technology. They have around 2,500 staff and 30,000 students.
14. Universität Freiburg, Germany
Colloquially called Uni Freiburg, it was established with an aim to provide students and teachers with a platform to learn, teach, and research without any political influence. Currently, the university works with more than 600 international scientists and scholars. This university does bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees in Business and Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities, Language and Cultural, Medicine and Health, Engineering and Science and technology. At any one time, they have 20,000 people enrolled and over 5,000 staff members. Non-native students will first have to complete a language course in German.
15. The University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Established in 1582 by a Royal Charter grant, it is playing host to philosophers, scientists, and politicians for over 400 years now. An interesting fact is that you can find almost two-thirds of the world’s nationalities receiving education from this university at the same time. They have 42% of students from Scotland, with 30 percent of students from the rest of UK, and 10% of students from European Union – and, 18% of its students represent the rest of the world. This university does bachelor degrees in Business and Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities, Language and Cultural, Medicine and Health and Engineering. They have up to 25,000 people enrolled at one time and up to 3000 academic staff. Famous former students including Katherine Grainger, Chris Hoy, Gordon Brown, Ian Rankin, J.K. Rowling, Charles Darwin, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
16. École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland
This publicly funded research university specializes in the sciences, architecture, and engineering fields. You can take it more as a cosmopolitan university where you can meet students from over 120 countries. There are more than 350 laboratories in this university to support research work, which is one of the reasons why they have 75 priority patents filed in 2012 with 110 invention disclosures. The university does bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees in Engineering and Science and technology. They do few courses so only enroll up to 8,000 students, and often have around 3,000 staff members.
17. University College London, United Kingdom
Strategically located in the heart of London, UCL is known for offering impressive research facilities with the most recent research developments, discoveries, and ideas included in their programs. The British Museum and the British Library is also on UCL’s doorstep, giving students an inspiration to learn and research. It’s the first university to admit students of any class, race, or religion. This university does bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees in Business and Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities, Language and Cultural, Medicine and Health and Engineering. They hire over 5,000 staff and have space for up to 25,000 students.
18. Technische Universität Berlin, Germany
Located in the Charlottenburg district, the university has played a big role in turning Berlin as one of leading industrial cities in the world. They train students in technology and natural sciences by giving them access to impressive facilities – they have a modern science library on campus with several workstations and meeting rooms. This university does certificate diplomas, associate degrees, bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees in Arts and Humanities and Business and Social Sciences. This university does certificate diplomas, associate degrees and bachelor degrees in Engineering and a science and Technology bachelor’s degree. They have around 25,000 people enroll at any one time and over 5,000 staff.
19. Universitetet i Oslo, Norway
Founded in 1811, UiO is a state-funded university and is the oldest institution in Norway. They do certificate diplomas, associate degrees, bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees in Business and Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities, Language and Cultural, Medicine and Health, Engineering and Science and technology. This multi-disciplinary research university offer 49 master’s courses in English, but you cannot find any English-taught bachelor’s degrees. Master’s programs they have are of two years in length. They have slightly smaller classes but still admit over 40,000 students. They also have over 5,000 staff members. As many as five scientists from the university have received Nobel prizes with one of them receiving the Nobel Peace Prize.
20. Universität Wien, Austria
Established in 1365, the University of Vienna holds the status of being the oldest university in any German-speaking country in the world. It is also among the largest universities in Central Europe, and is the largest research and teaching university in Austria. With campuses in more than 60 locations, they have several restaurants, a library, and a couple bookshops on campus. They are a technology University and they are massive, which means you can take most courses with them–but they change regularly. They admit over 45,000 students and have over 5,000 staff members.
21. Imperial College London, United Kingdom
Imperial College London started offering its services in 1907, and celebrated its 100th year of academic excellence in 2007 and became an independent entity – it was previously a part of the University of London. It’s one of the most prestigious universities in the UK and is known for its research quality with research income around £429 million for 2012–13. Imperial researchers have been associated with the development of holography, the discovery of penicillin, and the foundations of fiber optics. There are eight campuses in total around London and they offer bachelor degrees in Medicine and Health, Engineering, and Science and technology. Compared to the other colleges on this list it is small, but it can still hold up to 15,000 students, and they have a large staff compliment of over 4,000 members.
22. Universitat de Barcelona, Spain
The University of Barcelona was established in 1450 in Naples, but was forced to change location in 1717, but it eventually came back to Barcelona in 1842, and today it has six locations in Barcelona, the second largest city in Spain. The university offers free Spanish and Catalan courses with bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees in Arts and Humanities, Business and Social Sciences, Medicine and Health, Language and Cultural, Engineering and Science and technology. They have a very large establishment that holds over 45,000 students and 5,000 staff members.
23. Moscow State University, Russia
The university was founded in 1755 and is considered one of the oldest institutions in Russia. They have over 10 research centers with four museums to provide students with practical assistance with their research work. The university claims to have the tallest educational building anywhere in the world, and in this building, they offer the UNESCO International Demography courses with many others.
They offer bachelor’s degrees in Arts and Humanities, Business and Social Sciences, Medicine and Health, Language and Cultural, Engineering and Science and technology. They will take as many as 30,000 students and may have up to 4,500 staff members at any one time.
24. Kungliga Tekniska högskolan, Sweden
The largest and oldest technical university in Sweden, KTH has its emphasis on educating students in fields of applied and practical science. They have their academic strengths in molecular bio-sciences, e-sciences, IT, and transport research. They do bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees in Engineering and Science and technology. They have over 2,000 members of staff during term time and have 15,000 enrolled students. The university has more foreign students as compared to other universities in this part of the world.
25. University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
Established in 1209, the university always manages to be among the world’s top-ranking universities. Small group tutorials with one of the most senior members of the university, and supervisions are some of the unique benefits of studying at Cambridge. This university does bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees in Business and Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities, Language and Cultural, Medicine and Health, Engineering and Science and technology. They can have as many as 2,999 staff and up to 24,999 people enrolled at one time. The university has already produced as many as 89 Nobel Prize winners and currently has one of the highest levels of graduate employment in the United Kingdom.
Featured photo credit: Ryan Mcguire via gratisography.com
