University charter

Document to create or recognize a university

Not to be confused with Charter school.

A university charter is a charter issued by an authority to create or recognize a university. The earliest universities – Bologna, Paris and Oxford – arose organically from concentrations of schools in those cities, rather than being created by charters. The first university charters were issued in Europe in the 13th century, with the University of Naples created by a charter of Emperor Frederick II in 1224, widely considered the first deliberately-created university (studium generale). King Alfonso VIII of Castille issued a charter in 1208 to create the University of Palencia but the status of that institution is doubtful. The first papal creation was the University of Toulouse in 1229, via a papal bull of Pope Gregory IX. Through the 13th century, most university foundations continued to develop organically, often by migrations of scholars from other universities, but by the start of the 14th century either a papal bull or an imperial charter was considered necessary.[1]

Papal letters and bulls to create universities fell into four categories: Firstly, the creation of a new university where no school had existed before (e.g. Prague in 1347–48); secondly, the refoundation of a university that had vanished or substantially declined (e.g. Perpignan in 1379); thirdly, the apparent creation of a new university where one already existed (e.g. Montpellier in 1289); and finally, the confirmation of an existing university (e.g. Salamanca in 1255).[2]

## Canada

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Most Canadian universities derive their degree-granting authority from acts of the relevant provincial legislature (e.g. York University Act). Some older universities, including the University of Toronto and McGill University, derive their authority from a royal charter.

## India

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In India, deemed universities are universities that have been accredited by the University Grants Commission, under the Ministry of Education. These schools typically operate under established charters, which can be granted by the executive branch.[3]

## United Kingdom

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United Kingdom legislation

College Charter Act 1871

Act of Parliament

Parliament of the United Kingdom

Long title| An Act to amend the Law respecting the granting of Charters in certain cases.
Citation| 34 & 35 Vict. c. 63
Dates
Royal assent| 31 July 1871
Other legislation
Repealed by|

* Statute Law Revision (No. 2) Act 1893
* Universities (Scotland) Act 1966
* Scotland Act 1998 (Consequential Modifications) (No. 2) Order 1999

Status: Amended

Text of statute as originally enacted
Text of the College Charter Act 1871 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.

Most universities founded prior to 1992 were created by royal charter, although a small number were established by acts of Parliament.[4] Chartered institutions differ from those established by other means in terms of their powers as a corporation, their legal relationship with the government, and the status of their members.[5] Although university charters are issued as royal charters under the royal prerogative, the College Charter Act 1871 (34 & 35 Vict. c. 63) provides for scrutiny by the Parliament of the United Kingdom (or, since 1999, the Scottish Parliament for institutions based in Scotland) of draft charters that establish "any institution in the nature of a college or university".[6]

Oxford and Cambridge developed organically prior to the use of charters to establish universities, although Cambridge received a papal bull in 1318 that either confirmed its status as a studium generale or conferred this status upon it.[7] Oxford and Cambridge were formally incorporated by Act of Parliament in 1571 and are civil, rather than chartered, corporations.[5] Three of the ancient universities of Scotland (St Andrews, Glasgow and Aberdeen) were established by papal bulls, while Edinburgh was founded by the town corporation under authority granted to it by a royal charter. All four ancient Scottish universities are now governed under the Universities (Scotland) Acts.[5]

Durham University was established by an act of Parliament in 1832 and was later incorporated and confirmed by a royal charter in 1837.[8] The University of London received four charters between 1836 (its founding charter) and 1863, but has been governed under an Act of Parliament since 1900.[9] Durham and London are thus both statutory and chartered corporations. Newcastle University was separated from Durham and established as an independent university by an Act of Parliament in 1963 and is the only university established before 1992 to be a purely statutory corporation.[10]

Since 1992, almost all new universities have been promoted to that status by orders under the Further and Higher Education Act 1992. However, supplemental charters have been used to confer university status on institutions that already had a royal charter, such as Cardiff University (previously part of the University of Wales and chartered in 1884) in 2004[11] and Imperial College London (previously part of the University of London and chartered in 1907) in 2007.[12] Both new and supplemental charters have been used to effect the merger of institutions to form a new university, such as the new charter granted to the University of Manchester in 2004 on the merger of the Victoria University of Manchester and the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology,[13] and the supplemental charter granted to the University of Wales, Lampeter (chartered 1828 as St David's College) in 2010 to form the University of Wales Trinity Saint David by merger with Trinity College Carmarthen.[14]

## United States

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### Federal

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In the United States, the term "chartered university" is uncommon.[15] However, there are several universities which are congressionally-chartered, due to their location within District of Columbia. These include American University, Gallaudet University, Georgetown University[16], Howard University, and George Washington University.

Other examples include the colonial colleges, such as Harvard, which were chartered during the time of British colonialism.[15]

The Institute of American Indian Arts was chartered by the federal congress in 1986.[17]

The United States service (military) academies are not chartered, as they are agencies of the federal government itself.

### State

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Other universities are approved or authorized by state or territorial legislatures — sometimes via explicit charter — and may be public or private universities. The first state charter was issued by the Georgia General Assembly in 1785, establishing the University of Georgia.[18] Other examples include the charters issued by the State of New York for New York University[19] and Cornell University,[20] or the charter of the University System of New Hampshire, part of the state statutes, which establishes the University of New Hampshire and other state colleges within the system.[21] Sometimes, as with Penn State University, the "charter" is a collection of acts and decrees from state bodies rather than a single document.[22] Acts that create universities may also be referred to as charters even when not explicitly described as such, as in the case of the California state legislature's organic act of 23 March 1868 that created the University of California, celebrated since 1874 as 'charter day'.[23][24][25]

## References

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1. ^ Phyllis Riddle (Spring 1993). "Political Authority and University Formation in Europe, 1200-1800". Sociological Perspectives. 36 (1). SAGE Publications: 49–50\. doi:10.2307/1389441. JSTOR 1389441. S2CID 143493887.
2. ^ Alan B. Cobban (1964). "Edward II, Pope John XXII and the University of Cambridge". Bulletin of the John Rylands Library. 47 (1): 70, 75. JSTOR community.28211819.
3. ^ Vaidhyasubramaniam, S. (12 December 2017). "Breathe life into deemed universities". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
4. ^ "Further and higher education—overview". LexisNexis. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
5. ^ a b c Dennis Farrington; David Palfreyman (22 March 2012). "The significance of a Charter". The Law of Higher Education. Oxford University Press. pp. 355–357\. ISBN 9780191634642.
6. ^ "College Charter Act 1871". Legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
7. ^ Patrick Zutshi (15 April 2016). "When did Cambridge become a studium generale". In Kenneth Pennington; Melodie Harris Eichbauer (eds.). Law as Profession and Practice in Medieval Europe: Essays in Honor of James A. Brundage. Routledge. pp. 162–163\. ISBN 9781317107682.
8. ^ Matthew Andrews (1 June 2018). Universities in the Age of Reform, 1800–1870: Durham, London and King's College. Springer. p. 100\. ISBN 9783319767260.
9. ^ University of London, the Historical Record: (1836–1912) Being a Supplement to the Calendar, Completed to September 1912. First Issue. University of London Press. 1912. pp. 7–24.
10. ^ Dennis Farrington; David Palfreyman, eds. (22 March 2012). "Appendix 2: Legal status of HEIs in England". The Law of Higher Education. Oxford University Press. pp. 383–387\. ISBN 9780191634642.
11. ^ "History of the University". Cardiff University. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
12. ^ "Charter and Statutes". Imperial College London. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
13. ^ "Our foundations". University of Manchester. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
14. ^ "History and Timeline". University of Wales Trinity Saint David. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
15. ^ a b "Understanding University Classifications: Chartered, Licensed, State Approved, and Deemed". International Association for Quality Assurance in Pre-tertiary and Higher Education. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
16. ^ "Charter of the University".
17. ^ "Key Facts, Public Documents, and Right to Know". Institute of American Indian Arts. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
18. ^ "University of Georgia charter". University of Georgia. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
19. ^ "University Charter". New York University. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
20. ^ "Charter of Cornell University" (PDF). Cornell University. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
21. ^ "USNH Charter". University System of New Hampshire. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
22. ^ "Corporate Charter of the Pennsylvania State University". Penn State. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
23. ^ "Organic Act--Chapter 244 of the Statutes of 1867-1868". Online Archive of California. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
24. ^ "Charter Day". Online Archive of California. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
25. ^ "Charter Day: A university is born". UC Berkeley. Retrieved 11 July 2025.