Who has the oldest?
Which Country Has the Oldest University in the Americas?
The answer might surprise you — and it predates Harvard by 85 years.
Think You Know Your History?
Here's a question that stumps most people at trivia night: "The National University of San Marcos, considered the oldest university in the Americas, can be found in which country?"
Most people guess the United States — Harvard, Yale, maybe Princeton. Some guess Mexico or Brazil. Very few get it right. The answer is Peru — and the story behind it is genuinely extraordinary.
A University Older Than Harvard — By 85 Years
The National University of San Marcos (Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos) was founded on 12 May 1551 in Lima, Peru — making it the oldest continuously operating university in the Western Hemisphere. To put that in perspective: San Marcos was already 55 years old when the first permanent English settlement was established at Jamestown, Virginia in 1607. Harvard University, often assumed to be the oldest in the Americas, wasn't founded until 1636 — a full 85 years later.
San Marcos was established by royal decree of King Charles I of Spain during the height of the Spanish colonial era. Its founding purpose was to educate the sons of Spanish colonists and, eventually, indigenous Peruvians — a remarkably progressive mandate for the 16th century. The university was modelled on the University of Salamanca in Spain, one of Europe's oldest and most prestigious institutions.
Today, San Marcos is a thriving public research university with over 30,000 students across faculties of medicine, law, science, humanities and the arts. It has produced some of Peru's most celebrated intellectuals, including Nobel Prize-winning author Mario Vargas Llosa, who studied literature there in the 1950s. The university's main campus in Lima is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, recognised for its outstanding colonial architecture and its role in shaping Latin American intellectual history.
What makes San Marcos particularly remarkable is its continuity. Unlike many colonial-era institutions that were dissolved, merged or refounded over the centuries, San Marcos has operated without interruption for nearly 475 years — through colonial rule, independence, wars, political upheaval and everything in between. It is, in every sense, a living piece of history.
So, What's the Answer?
The oldest university in the Americas is the National University of San Marcos, located in Lima, Peru, founded in 1551. It predates Harvard by 85 years, and has been educating students continuously for nearly five centuries.
"Founded in 1551 — 55 years before Jamestown, 85 years before Harvard. San Marcos has been educating minds since before Shakespeare wrote Hamlet."
Think You'd Get It Right on the Night?
This is exactly the kind of question that separates the trivia legends from the rest of the table. Questions that seem impossible until you hear the answer — and then you can't believe you didn't know it.
At Quizzards, we craft every round to deliver that exact moment — the collective gasp, the "no way!", the furious scribbling. If you want to test your knowledge (and your friends') across geography, history, music, science and more, come along to one of our trivia nights.
Follow us on social media for weekly trivia questions, behind-the-scenes content, and to find out when we're coming to a venue near you. And if you got Peru right — we're impressed. See you at the next one. 🎯