The original public university in the

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...

region of France was the

University of Douai The University of Douai (french: Université de Douai) ( nl, Universiteit van Dowaai) is a former university in Douai, France. With a medieval heritage of scholarly activities in Douai, the university was established in 1559 and lectures started ...

established in 1559 in

Douai Douai (, , ,; pcd, Doï; nl, Dowaai; formerly spelled Douay or Doway in English) is a city in the Nord département in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. Located on the river Scarpe some from Lille and from Arras, D ...

and that was moved to Lille in 1887 and 1896 as University of Lille (french: Université de Lille). Between 1970 and 2017 the University of Lille was divided into three universities (student enrollment: 70,000): * Lille 1 University of Science and Technology *

Lille 2 University of Health and Law The Lille 2 University of Health and Law (french: Université Lille 2 : Droit et Santé) was a French university for health, sports, management and law. It was located in Lille and was part of the Community of Universities and Institutions (COMUE ...

Charles de Gaulle University – Lille III The Charles de Gaulle University – Lille III (french: Université Lille 3 Charles-de-Gaulle) was a French university. Since 1974, the main campus of University of Lille III was located in Villeneuve d'Ascq in eastern Lille, at ''Pont de Bois'' me ...

In 2018, the new

University of Lille The University of Lille (french: Université de Lille, abbreviated as ULille, UDL or univ-lille) is a French public research university based in Lille, Hauts-de-France. It has its origins in the University of Douai (1559), and resulted from the m ...

was created with a merger of Lille 1, Lille 2 and Lille 3 universities. Universities in the Academy of Lille (') are members of the Community of Universities and Institutions (COMUE) Lille Nord de France and the European Doctoral College Lille Nord de France. Three other small public universities are located in the neighbourhood of Lille city: *

Artois University The University of Artois ( French: ''Université d'Artois'') is a public university situated in the Nord and Pas-de-Calais departments of northern France. It is situated on 5 campuses in Arras, Béthune, Douai, Lens and Liévin. The Univ ...

University of the Littoral Opal Coast The University of the Littoral Opal Coast (French: ''Université du Littoral Côte d'Opale''; ULCO) is a public university located in the Nord and Pas-de-Calais departments of northern France. Its namesake is the Opal Coast region, of which it i ...

University of Valenciennes and Hainaut-Cambresis The Polytechnic University of Hauts-de-France (''Université Polytechnique des Hauts-de-France''), previously known as University of Valenciennes and Hainaut-Cambrésis (''Université de Valenciennes et du Hainaut-Cambrésis'') until 1 January 2 ...

Lille has also one private university (enrollment: 20,500) : the

Université Catholique de Lille The Université catholique de Lille (also known as the Catholic University of Lille), also « University and Polytechnic Federation of Lille » is a private collegiate university of Catholic-inspired institutions established in 1875. The u ...

See also