Universities in Sweden
The order of precedence is based on their year of creation as universities. Only Uppsala University (est. 1477) and Lund University (est. 1666) where actually founded as universities, whereas all the other universities were first founded as a högskola (college), and then later raised to university status.
The University of Helsinki (est. 1640 in what is today Finland) and the University of Tartu (est. 1632 in what is today Estonia) were founded as universities when those cities were part of the Kingdom of Sweden, but are now located outside of Sweden. The University of Greifswald (est. 1456 in the Holy Roman Empire) was a Swedish university from 1631 to 1815, and during that time it was the oldest Swedish university.
The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences was formed during the Higher Education Reform of 1977 with the aim of raising its reputation. However, because it is funded by the Ministry of Agriculture, it is traditionally placed last in the list.
Private institutions of higher education take no special place in the order of precedence.
It is worth mentioning that the order of precedence does not correspond to academic ranking of the institutions, to which both Chalmers University of Technology and the Stockholm School of Economics bear excellent testimony.
University ↓ Established as a university ↓ Student population ↓ Location ↓
Uppsala University 1477 40,000 Uppsala
Lund University 1666 38,000 Lund
Chalmers University of Technology 1937 10,500 Gothenburg
University of Gothenburg 1954 50,000 Gothenburg
Stockholm University 1960 50,000 Stockholm
Karolinska Institutet 1965 9,000 Solna
Umeå University 1965 28,000 Umeå
Royal Institute of Technology 1970 13,100 Stockholm
Linköping University 1975 26,700 Linköping
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences 1977 4,200 Uppsala and other
Luleå University of Technology 1997 14,300 Luleå
Karlstad University 1999 10,300 Karlstad
Växjö University 1999 14,300 Växjö
Örebro University 1999 14,500 Örebro
Mid Sweden University 2005 15,500 Östersund, Sundsvall, Härnösand and Örnsköldsvik