Cairo University

Giza, Egypt · founded 1908 · 230,000 students · public research university

Known for: Egypt's premier public university and one of the oldest and largest in the Middle East, serving as a central institution for the nation's political, intellectual, and professional elite for over a century.

Rankings

QS World: #551
Times Higher Education: #601

Top programmes

Medicine
Engineering
Law
Commerce/Business
Pharmacy
Arts/Humanities

Notable alumni

Naguib Mahfouz — Nobel Prize laureate in Literature (1988)
Boutros Boutros-Ghali — Former Secretary-General of the United Nations
Mohamed ElBaradei — Nobel Peace Prize laureate (2005), former IAEA Director General
Yasser Arafat — Former Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Nobel Peace Prize laureate (1994)
Omar Sharif — Academy Award-nominated actor
Nawal El Saadawi — Renowned feminist writer, activist, and physician
Ahmed Zewail — Nobel Prize laureate in Chemistry (1999)
Hosni Mubarak — Former President of Egypt

Traditions

Annual student union elections, often highly politicized
Large-scale student protests and demonstrations
Faculty-specific graduation ceremonies held at the historic main hall
Cultural and scientific weeks organized by student clubs

If Cairo University were…

As a food: Ful medames — Egypt's ancient breakfast staple—humble fava beans that have sustained the nation for millennia, nutritious and democratic, eaten by everyone from laborers to presidents. Cairo University is Egyptian higher education's f
As an athlete: Mohamed Salah — Egypt's greatest modern export—immensely talented, carrying the hopes of millions, succeeding on the world stage while remaining connected to home, and navigating the pressure of representing an entire nation. Cairo Univ
As a person alive today: Mohamed ElBaradei — The Nobel-winning diplomat and reform advocate—Cairo University educated, internationally respected, politically engaged, and embodying the tension between Egypt's global aspirations and domestic constraints. The univers
As a historical figure: Gamal Abdel Nasser — The revolutionary leader who promised to modernize Egypt and lead the Arab world, charismatic and transformative but ultimately unable to deliver on all the grand promises. Cairo University carries that same Nasserist le
As a movie or TV show: The Yacoubian Building — The 2006 Egyptian film depicting a once-grand Cairo landmark now overcrowded and decaying, housing people from all social classes navigating corruption, tradition, and modernity. Cairo University is that building—histori
As a US president: Woodrow Wilson — The intellectual president who championed self-determination and international institutions, prestigious academic credentials, but also deeply traditional values and a complicated legacy of idealism mixed with authoritar
As a city: Cairo — Obviously it's in Cairo, but more profoundly it IS Cairo—ancient and modern simultaneously, overcrowded and chaotic, prestigious and struggling, central to everything that happens in Egypt. The university mirrors the cit
As an element: Gold — The pharaohs' metal—ancient, prestigious, valuable, resistant to corrosion, and deeply embedded in Egyptian identity and history. Cairo University is Egypt's academic gold: the standard of prestige, historically priceles
As a car: 1960 Mercedes-Benz 220S — Once the prestige standard of the Arab world, now weathered but dignified, carrying the weight of revolutionary history and Nasser-era glory. Still commands respect on the streets despite decades of political turbulence

Campus life

Campus life is bustling and politically charged, with the university historically being a hotbed for political activism and student movements. Social life revolves around faculty buildings, student unions, and cafes. The large student body creates a diverse and dynamic, though sometimes crowded, atmosphere.