The University of Salamanca has a fantastic academic reputation. It was founded in 1218, making it the oldest university in Spain, and the fourth-oldest in Europe. As a result of its prestige, it attracts many exchange and foreign students, lending it an international, multicultural atmosphere. Salamanca University consists of the colleges of Law, Liberal Arts, and Science and Medicine, as well as possessing numerous highly regarded academic units such as its Spanish language institute.
The University has been pioneering in many aspects: it debated for the rights of the indigenous populations during the Spanish conquest of the Americas, and was also the first university in the world to accept female students.
The science and technology developed at the University of Salamanca have been the protagonists of some of the most important advances of the last centuries. From Salamanca's studios emerged personalities such as Torres Villarroel or Abraham Zacut who developed the Almanach Perpetuum, a treatise on astronomy essential for navigation that made it possible to unite continents. The advanced thinking of Francisco de Vitoria has led Salamanca to be considered the cradle of International Law, but other illustrious figures such as Fray Luis de León or Francisco de Salinas or Antonio de Nebrija, creator of the first Spanish grammar, have passed through its classrooms.
In more recent times, the University has welcomed great thinkers and statesmen such as Miguel de Unamuno, Enrique Iglesias, Jacques Delors or Adolfo Suárez, who have contributed to the construction of the international order.
The Senate of Doctors includes heads of state from several Ibero-American countries such as Fernando E. Cardoso, Oscar Arias, Ricardo Lagos, Luiz I. Lula da Silva or Tavaré Vázquez Rosas; Nobel Prize winners such as Mario Vargas Llosa, José Saramago, Paul Nurse or Severo Ochoa; thinkers and researchers who have marked the course of their disciplines by promoting the progress of knowledge. The humanism, intelligence and talent cultivated over eight centuries have made the University of Salamanca a leading institution.
It takes in a total of 30,000 students per year and offers over 250 academic programs.
