UK university names tend, on the whole, to be pretty straightforward. University of Edinburgh, University of Cambridge, Brighton University, Swansea University, University of Northampton etc – a reasonably sensible convention of naming based on place. Although the Higher Education and Research Act was intended in part to usher in a new era of exciting new challenger institutions, there aren’t yet that many with thrilling and edgy names.
Most universities are in fact named after their locations but some newer institutions have chosen names based on famous historical figures or benefactors in order to differentiate themselves. These are arguably the most interesting names in UK higher education:
- Edinburgh Napier University
- Arden University
- De Montfort University
- Liverpool John Moores University
- BPP University
- Wrexham Glyndwr University
- Newman University
- Anglia Ruskin University
- Harper Adams University
- Heriot-Watt University
- Leeds Beckett University
- Birkbeck, University of London
And my two personal favourites:
- Bishop Grosseteste University
- Plymouth Marjon University, formally called the University of St Mark and St John but long known as Marjon.
And there is also, of course NMiTE, the New Model in Technology & Engineering, which is a rather strange name but is in reality just a working title pending the announcement of the real name of Hereford's new university. But also there is UA92, the football-focused Gary Neville and Lancaster University development in Manchester which rivals NMiTE for a difficult to understand name.
The US though has a cornucopia of unusual university names as this recent best college name tournament in the Chronicle demonstrated. The 64 qualifiers were divided thematically:
There was the Pantry Deathmatch Division (Rice, Curry, Berry, Citrus), the I Was Not Aware Of These Saints Division (St. Olaf, St. Norbert, St. Cloud, St. John Fischer), the Great Sweatshirt Division (Hickey, Holy Names, Isothermal, Defiance), the Generic Male Names Division (Gordon, Barry, Alfred, Bob Jones), and so on.
The full list is here:
The final came down to Slippery Rock University versus the Moody Bible Institute (not sure who won) but the earlier eliminations included some very impressive names including:
- D’Youville College
- Whatcom Community College
- Epic Bible College
- Millsaps College
- Brazosport College
- Assiniboine Community College
- Wright Graduate University for the Realization of Human Potential
- Visible Music College
- Tougaloo College
And, unlike this list of some fake universities, these ones all appear to be real. The US is the real star when it comes to strange university names then but there are some on this list from other countries too which I particularly like:
- Transylvania University
- Marlboro College
- Hendrix College
- University College of Football Business
- Charisma University
- Tiffin University
- Future University
- Lovely Professional University
- Madonna University
- Stetson University
- Wright State University
- University of Choice
- Hamline University
- Nipissing University
- Harmony University
- Kinki University
- Immaculata University
- Impact International College
- Peace College
What's your favourite (real) university or college name?
(A shorter version of this piece appeared on the Wonkhe blog in April 2018)
About the author
Dr Paul Greatrix is Registrar at The University of Nottingham, author and creator of Registrarism (@registrarism) and a Contributing Editor of Wonkhe. You can find more of his blogs here.
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