Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

The Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Dutch for Catholic University of Leuven, but usually not translated into English), also known as KU Leuven or University of Leuven, is a Dutch-speaking university in Leuven, Flanders, Belgium.

The University of Leuven was founded at the centre of the historic town of Leuven in 1425, making it Belgium’s first university. After being closed in 1797 during the Napoleonic period, the Catholic University of Leuven was “re-founded” in 1834, and is frequently, but controversially, identified as a continuation of the older institution.^A In 1968 the Catholic University of Leuven split into the Dutch-language Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and the French-language Université catholique de Louvain, which moved to Louvain-la-Neuve in Wallonia. Since the fifteenth century, Louvain, as it is still often called, has been a major contributor to the development of Catholic theology. It is considered the oldest Catholic university still in existence.

With 55,484 students in 2014–2015, the KU Leuven is the largest university in Belgium and the Low Countries. In addition to its primary campus in Leuven, it has satellite campuses in Kortrijk (‘KULAK’), Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent,Bruges, Ostend, Geel, Diepenbeek, Aalst, Sint-Katelijne-Waver and in Belgium’s capital Brussels. The university now also offers several programs in English.

As of 2015, KU Leuven ranks as 55th globally according to Times Higher Education, 82nd according to QS World University Rankings and 90th according to the Academic Ranking of World Universities. KU Leuven is consistently considered to be within the top 100 universities of the world and in contention with Ghent University as the best Belgian university.

Official web-site: http://www.kuleuven.be/