Foundation In 1410, a group of
Augustinian clergy, driven from the
University of Paris by the
Avignon schism and from the universities of
Oxford and
Cambridge by the
Anglo-Scottish Wars, formed a society of higher learning in St Andrews, offering courses of lectures in divinity, logic, philosophy, and law. A
charter of privilege was bestowed upon the society of masters and scholars by the
Bishop of St Andrews,
Henry Wardlaw, on 28 February 1411–12. Wardlaw then successfully petitioned the
Avignon Pope Benedict XIII to grant the school university status by issuing a series of
papal bulls, which followed on 28 August 1413. King
James I of Scotland confirmed the
charter of the university in 1432. Subsequent kings supported the university, with King
James V of Scotland "confirming privileges of the university" in 1532. A college of theology and arts, called
St John's College, was founded in 1418 by Robert of Montrose and Lawrence of Lindores.
St Salvator's College was established in 1450 by Bishop
James Kennedy.
St Leonard's College was founded in 1511 by Archbishop
Alexander Stewart, who intended it to have a far more monastic character than either of the other colleges. St John's College was refounded by Cardinal
James Beaton under the name
St Mary's College in 1538 for the study of divinity and law. It was intended to encourage traditional Catholic teachings in opposition to the emerging
Scottish Reformation, but once Scotland had formally split with the
Papacy in 1560, it became a teaching institution for Protestant clergy. At its foundation in 1538 St Mary's was intended to be a college for instruction in divinity, law, and medicine, as well as in Arts, but its career on this extensive scale was short-lived. Under a new foundation and erection, confirmed by Parliament in 1579, it was set apart for the study of Theology, and it has remained a Divinity College ever since. Some university buildings that date from this period are still in use today, such as
St Salvator's Chapel, St Leonard's College Chapel and St Mary's College quadrangle. At this time, the majority of the teaching was of a religious nature and was conducted by clerics associated with
St Andrews Cathedral.
Development During the 17th and 18th centuries, the university had mixed fortunes and was often beset by civil and religious disturbances. In a particularly acute depression in 1747, severe financial problems triggered the dissolution of St Leonard's College, whose properties and staff were merged into St Salvator's College to form the
United College of St Salvator and St Leonard. The poverty of Scotland during this period also damaged St Andrews, as few were able to patronise the university and its colleges, and with state support being improbable, the income they received was scarce.
Modern period Women In the second half of the 19th century, pressure was building on universities to open up higher education to women. In 1876, the university senate decided to allow women to receive an education at St Andrews at a level roughly equal to the
Master of Arts degree that men were able to take at the time. The scheme came to be known as the '
LLA examination' (Lady Literate in Arts). It required women to pass five subjects at an ordinary level and one at honours level and entitled them to hold a diploma from the university. Not being required to attend the university in person, the women were learning by
correspondence, taking as many years as needed to complete the course. They were both examined and assisted in their studies by
educationalists in the town or city in which they lived in the UK or abroad. In 1889, the
Universities (Scotland) Act made it possible to admit women to St Andrews formally and to receive an education equal to that of male students. In September 1892, the university was reported as having "lately taken the lead in opening its classes to women" and proclaimed that "St Andrews hails a ladies' school –
St Leonards – second to none in the land, and probably second to few in England". By 1892, the headmistress of St Leonard's Ladies School,
Dame Frances Dove, had become "possessor" of the buildings of the university's old
St Leonard's College which were being used again for their original purpose of providing accommodation for students, only this time not for males but for "girl graduates and
undergraduates". Having
matriculated,
Agnes Forbes Blackadder entered the university in 1892 and became the first woman to graduate from St Andrews on the same level as men on 29 March 1895, when she gained her
MA. The first female lecturer at the university was
Alice Marion Umpherston, appointed in 1896 to teach Physiology to women students. In response to the increasing number of female students attending the university, the first women's
hall of residence was founded in 1896 by
Dame Louisa Lumsden, the first principal of
St Leonards School, which adjoined the university. The residence was named
University Hall.
Dundee Until the start of the 20th century, St Andrews offered a traditional education based on classical languages, divinity and philosophical studies, and was slow to embrace more practical fields such as science and medicine that were becoming more popular at other universities. In response to the need for modernisation and in order to increase student numbers and alleviate financial problems, the university had, by 1883, established a university college in
Dundee which formally merged with St Andrews in 1897. From its inception, the Dundee college had a focus on scientific, and professional subjects; the college's
mixed sexes read
Classics and English at St Andrews. The union was fraught with difficulties; in 1894,
The Educational Times reported in the article
The Quarrel between St Andrews and Dundee that University College, Dundee was "forbidden" to give such instruction in the Arts "as he [the Dundee student] might require". After the incorporation of University College Dundee, St Andrews' various problems generally receded. For example, it was able to offer medical degrees. Until 1967, many students who obtained a degree from the University of St Andrews had in fact spent most, and sometimes all, of their undergraduate career based in Dundee. In 1967, the union with Queen's College Dundee (formerly University College Dundee) ended, when it became an independent institution under the name of the
University of Dundee. As a result of this, St Andrews lost its capacity to provide degrees in many areas such as Medicine, Dentistry, Law, Accountancy, and Engineering. As well as losing the right to confer the undergraduate medical degree
MBChB, it was also deprived of the right to confer the postgraduate degree MD. St Andrews was eventually able to continue to offer the opportunity to study medicine through a new arrangement with the
University of Manchester in England. In 1974, the College of St Leonard was reconstituted as a postgraduate institute.
Links with the United States St Andrews' historical links with the United States predate the country's independence.
James Wilson, a signer of the
Declaration of Independence, attended (but did not graduate from) St Andrews. Wilson was one of six original justices appointed by
George Washington to the
Supreme Court of the United States and was a founder of the
University of Pennsylvania Law School. Other prominent American figures associated with St Andrews include Scottish American industrialist
Andrew Carnegie, who was elected
Rector in 1901 and whose name is given to the prestigious
Carnegie Scholarship, and
Edward Harkness, an American philanthropist who in 1930 provided for the construction of
St Salvator's Hall. American
Bobby Jones, co-founder of the
Augusta National Golf Club and the
Masters Tournament, was named a
Freeman of the City of St Andrews in 1958, becoming only the second American to be so honoured, the other being Benjamin Franklin in 1759. In 1976, a reciprocal scholarship programme named in honour of Jones was established between St Andrews and
Emory University in Georgia, where Jones studied for his law degree. Links with the United States have been maintained into the present day and continue to grow. In 2009,
Louise Richardson, an Irish-American political scientist specialising in the study of terrorism, was drawn from Harvard to serve as the first female
Principal and
Vice Chancellor of St Andrews. She later went on to her next appointment as the vice chancellor to the
University of Oxford. Students from almost every state in the United States and province in Canada are represented. Active recruitment of students from North America first began in 1984, and has continued to grow steadily through partnerships with schools and counsellors, consistent in-country engagements, and active support from alumni. Since at least 2014, St Andrews has consistently had the largest share of US students among British universities, with Americans making up roughly a fifth of the student body in 2024. Media reports indicate growing numbers of American students are attracted to the university's academics, traditions, prestige, internationalism, and comparatively low
tuition fees. The university also regularly features as one of the few non-North American universities in the
Fiske Guide to Colleges, an American college guide, as a 'Best Buy'. In 2025, British media dubbed St Andrews as a "mini-Nantucket" due to the concentration of wealthy American students from the
East Coast at the university. St Andrews has developed a sizable alumni presence in the United States, with over 8,000 alumni spread across all 50 states. Most major cities host alumni clubs, the largest of which is in New York. Both London and New York also host the
St Andrews Angels, an alumni-led angel investment network, which centres upon the wider university communities in both the United Kingdom and United States. St Andrews has also established relationships with other university alumni clubs and private membership clubs in the United States to provide alumni with social and networking opportunities. For example, alumni are eligible for membership at the
Princeton Club of New York, the
Penn Club of New York City and the
Algonquin Club in Boston. In 2013,
Hillary Clinton, former United States Secretary of State, took part in the academic celebration marking the 600th anniversary of the founding of the University of St Andrews. Clinton received an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws and provided the graduation address, in which she said, ==Governance and administration==