The London School of Economics

The London School of Economics and Political Science

Coat of arms of the London School of Economics and Political Science
Motto	Rerum cognoscere causas (Latin)
Motto in English	"To Understand the Causes of Things"
Type	Public research university
Established	1895
Endowment	£132.7 million (as of 31 July 2017)
Budget	£347.4 million (2016–2017)
Chairman	Dame Shirley Pearce
Chancellor	The Princess Royal (as Chancellor of the University of London)
Director	Dame Nemat Shafik
Visitor	Andrea Leadsom (ex officio as Lord President of the Council)
Academic staff	1,655 (2015/16)
Students	11,210 (2016/17)
Undergraduates	4,810 (2016/17)
Postgraduates	6,395 (2016/17)
Location	London, United Kingdom Coordinates: 51°30′50″N 0°07′00″W / 51.51389°N 0.11667°W / 51.51389; -0.11667
Campus	Urban
Newspaper	The Beaver
Printing house	LSE Press
Colours	Purple, black and gold
Affiliations	ACU CEMS EUA G5 Russell Group University of London Universities UK Golden Triangle
Mascot	Beaver
Website	lse.ac.uk

The London School of Economics (officially The London School of Economics and Political Science, often referred to as LSE) is a public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidney Webb, Beatrice Webb, Graham Wallas, and George Bernard Shaw for the betterment of society, LSE joined the University of London in 1900 and established its first degree courses under the auspices of the University in 1901. The LSE has awarded its own degrees since 2008, prior to which it awarded degrees of the University of London.

LSE is located in Westminster, central London, near the boundary between Covent Garden and Holborn. The area is historically known as Clare Market. The LSE has more than 10,000 students and 3,300 staff, just under half of whom come from outside the UK. It had a consolidated income of £353.1 million in 2016/17, of which £32.1 million was from research grants. One hundred and fifty five nationalities are represented amongst LSE's student body and the school has the highest percentage of international students (70%) of all British universities. Despite its name, the school is organised into 25 academic departments and institutes which conduct teaching and research across a range of legal studies and social sciences.

LSE is a member of the Russell Group and is generally considered a part of the "Golden Triangle" of universities in south-east England, along with the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, University College London, Imperial College London, and King's College London. For the subject of social science, LSE places second in the world in the QS Rankings, within the top twenty in the THE Rankings, and in the top fifty by all three major global rankings. LSE is ranked among the top ten universities nationally by two of the three UK tables, while internationally LSE is ranked in the top 50 by two of the three major global rankings. In the 2014 Research Excellence Framework, the School had the highest proportion of world-leading research among research submitted of any British non-specialist university. The LSE is also a member of academic organisations such as the Association of Commonwealth Universities and the European University Association.