Université Catholique de Louvain

Université catholique de Louvain

Seal of the university
Latin: Universitas Catholica Lovaniensis
Motto	Sedes Sapientiae (Latin)
Motto in English	Seat of Wisdom, Seat of Knowledge
Type	Private Catholic
Established	1425, 1834, 1968
Endowment	€370 million (2008)
Rector	Vincent Blondel
Administrative staff	5,815
Students	29,711
Doctoral students	4,953
Location	Louvain-la-Neuve, with satellite campuses in Brussels (Woluwe and Saint-Gilles), Mons, Tournai and Charleroi, Belgium
Campus	Planned community
Colors	Blue and white
Affiliations	CEMS CESAER CLUSTER Coimbra Group IMCC TIME
Website	www.uclouvain.be
Data as of 2011[update]

The Université catholique de Louvain (UCL, French for Catholic University of Louvain, but usually not translated into English to avoid confusion with the Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968)) is Belgium's largest French-speaking university. It is located in Louvain-la-Neuve, which was expressly built to house the university. UCL has satellite campuses in Brussels, Charleroi, Mons and Tournai.

The University of Leuven was founded at the centre of the historic town of Leuven (or Louvain) in 1425, making it the first university in Belgium and the Low Countries. 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. In 1968 the Catholic University of Leuven split into the Dutch-language Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, which stayed in Leuven, and the French-language Université catholique de Louvain, which moved to Louvain-la-Neuve in Wallonia, 20 km southeast of Brussels. Since the 15th century, Leuven, 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.

The Catholic University of Leuven, based in Leuven ("Louvain" in French), 30 km east of Brussels, provided lectures in French from its refounding in 1835, and in Dutch from 1930. In 1968, the Dutch-language section became the independent Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, which remained in Leuven, while the French-speaking university was moved to a greenfield campus and town, Louvain-la-Neuve, 20 km south-east of Brussels, in a part of the country where French is the official language. This separation also entailed dividing existing library holdings between the two new universities.