There are fifteen higher education institutions in Scotland which have university status, out of a total of 115 such institutions within the United Kingdom.There are also a further four autonomous higher education institutions which do not have university status.University status in the United Kingdom is conferred by the Privy Council, which takes advice from the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education.
In Scotland, the minister with higher education responsibilities is the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning of the Scottish Government.Scottish universities are funded by the Scottish Government, through a non-departmental public body, the Scottish Funding Council, while support funding for students is provided by the Student Awards Agency for Scotland. In 2008, over 240,000 students were enrolled at Scottish universities.Universities Scotland is the representative body which works to promote Scotland's universities, as well as six other higher education institutions.The oldest university in Scotland is the University of St Andrews, established in 1413, with the universities of Glasgow and Aberdeen also dating back to the 15th century. These "ancient universities" were established by papal bulls, but in the 16th century royal charter became the standard method of foundation. The first of these established the University of Edinburgh, which became Scotland's fourth university at a time when her more populous neighbour, England, had only two.
The number of universities doubled during the 1960s, with three existing colleges gaining university status, and the University of Stirling being established as Scotland's only "plate glass university". Several former polytechnics or central institutions followed in the 1990s, after the Further and Higher Education Act 1992. The newest is the University of the Highlands and Islands, which attained university status in 2011. Besides the campus-based universities, the distance-learning Open University plays a role in the Scottish university sector, teaching 40% of Scotland's part-time undergraduates.