Nagyon régi js nagyon szép egyetemváros. Már a prehitorikus korból származó nyilhegyeket is találtak a régészek. 
Jelenleg több mint 40 kollégium van a városban, több kollégium közöttük a 13.századból származik.

Az első kollégium kezdetékről bemásoltam egy hasábot:

ORIGINS Like the City itself, the precise origins of Oxford University are unclear (see The Story of Oxford). University College once famously claimed to have been founded by Alfred the Great (9th Century), but that claim, always dubious, has now been withdrawn. In fact, the University as we know it today began to take shape in the 12th Century when English Scholars (all clerks in Holy Orders) were exiled from Paris University and began to congregate at Oxford's Abbeys and Priories, already established centres of learning by then.