Scottish Blog

The University of Aberdeen is the 3rd oldest university in Scotland.

Interestingly the University of Aberdeen did not begin its life like the other ancient universities of Scotland (University of St Andrews and the University of Glasgow). In fact, the foundation of the University of Aberdeen began as two completely separate institutions, King’s College and the Marischal College.

The year of formation for the University of Aberdeen is taken as 1495; this is actually the year that the King’s College was opened. Its founder was a man named William Elphinstone; he received a charter and a small endowment from the king to open the university. He opened the University of Glasgow primarily as an institution by which to teach law. Although it seems that such was the style of William Elphinstone and his friend and co-teacher Hector Boece, that it drew students of not only law from throughout the country, to make the University of Aberdeen the most popular learning location in Scotland at the time.

The second half of the University of Aberdeen came as Mirschal College, which was also located in Aberdeen. It was founded in the April of 1593 by a man named George Keith, the fifth Earl of Mirschal. There have been a number of reasons speculated as to why exactly, Mirschal College was opened. Some believe that George Keith wanted a more protestant version of King’s College to exist, while others speculate that it was because in 1592 a business rival of the Earl of Mirschal opened up his own college nearby.

On the 15th of September 1860, the University of Aberdeen was formed, with the uniting of the two current universities that existed in Aberdeen. Two years prior, the Mirschal College commenced a medical wing to its studies, which was subsequently incorporated into the newly formed University of Aberdeen. The institute is now the 3rd oldest university in Scotland and the 5th oldest in the United Kingdom.