History
The University accepted its first students in 1977-78. Currently, over 18,000 undergraduates and 3000 postgraduate students are registered here. They are educated by an outward-looking academic faculty of around 450 members, supported by adjunct lecturers, post-doctoral researchers, laboratory staff and instructors, as well as around 300 technical and administrative staff.
Education
The University’s 16 Departments offer Bachelor and Master degree programmes with a wide range of core and elective courses leading to specializations within each discipline, as well as doctoral research and research training (PhD). The degree programmes run alongside a kaleidoscope of conferences, workshops, short courses, summer schools, public lectures, lifelong learning programmes and other events organized throughout the year.
Research
Research and research training activities at the University are organized along the lines of the Divisions within each Department. Research activity follows the classic academic model insofar as it is driven by the initiatives of scholars and scientists in developing their own curiosity-driven or practice-based projects or working in collaboration with other research groups.
University Ranking
QS World University Rankings by TopUniversities
2025
601 -67
2024
534 57
2023
591
QS World University Rankings is one of the top international rankings measuring the popularity and performance of universities all over the world. They measure university reputation based on the impressions of higher education experts, companies who hire graduates, and teaching quality. QS also considers the ratio of international teachers and students present at universities, as well as the times research papers were mentioned by researchers. After calculating and comparing these criteria, QS ranks the universities accordingly.
World University Rankings by Times Higher Education
2025
-
2024
501 -100
2023
401
World University Rankings is a vital resource that provides the definitive list of the world's best universities. They look at how often they're producing new ideas, what their reputation is around the world, and how much they're contributing to science and academic fields. After calculating and comparing these criteria, THE ranks the universities accordingly.
Academic Ranking of World Universities by Shanghai Jiao Tong University
2024
-
2023
701 -100
2022
601
ARWU World University rankings is the first world university ranking. It ranks the world's top 1000 colleges and universities based on objective indicator. They look at the number of award-winning (Fields Medals and Nobel Prize) scientists who are located there, how much of their research is cited and referenced around the world, and how much they've contributed to different academic fields. After calculating and comparing these criteria, ARWU ranks the universities accordingly.
Best Global Universities Rankings by U.S. News & World Report
2025
-
2024
689 -84
2023
605
Best Global Universities Rankings by U.S. News & World Report presents all the top universities from the U.S. and 60 other countries around the world. They measure the rate of students going to their second year of studies, as well as the rate of students who graduate. It also asks university representatives on the performance of universities, and evaluates university resources, teacher salaries, graduation rates, student academic achievements and satisfaction. After calculating and comparing these criteria, U.S. News ranks the top international universities accordingly.
Student services
The University of Crete and the Office of Student Affairs support and promote all student support actions, and all actions for students’ spiritual growth and personal development, and it aims to help them explore and experience plenty and diverse aspects of student life in compliance with current legislation and decisions of the Senate board members.
Housing services
Currently there are only a limited number of (free) student residence places in the Gallos Campus, Rethymnon. In Heraklion, there are no student dormitories. Instead, there are a limited number of free places (double rooms) offered in hotels selected by the University. The available free accommodation in both Rethymnon and Heraklion is allocated according to a points system based on economic and social criteria of the student's family. Students must apply for these places at the beginning of each academic year through the Office of Student Affairs.
Library services
The University of Crete Library consists of the Central Library in Rethymnon University Campus, which supports Humanities, Social Sciences and Education, and the Library of Heraklionin Heraklion University Campus, which supports the School of Science and Engineering and the School of Medicine.
ICT services
e-services for students and staff are part of the University’s computer and network services which are coordinated by the Computer Centre.
Medical services
Students registered at the University of Crete are entitled to full medical and pharmaceutical care in a public hospital and in Health Centres of the prefectures. This applies also to uninsured students. The public hospitals in Heraklion are (a) the University General Hospital of Heraklion (ΠΑΓΝΗ) and (b) the Venizelio General Hospital located in town.
Sports facilities
The University has excellent sports facilities at both the Rethymnon and the Heraklion campuses. These include well-equipped gymnasiums and, in the Heraklion complex, an indoor pool, as well as playing fields and mooring berths. A wide range of sporting, athletic and gymnastic programmes are offered on the campuses, ranging from yoga and Tae Kwon Do through to football, tennis, and sailing. The University also has teams training and competing in inter-departmental and inter-University league games and other contests in a number of sports, including basketball, football, and sailing.
Student clubs
All student societies and clubs are located on campus in Voutes. Most clubs use the Student Centre premises for their meetings, classes and rehearsals. Inside the Student Centre there is a Music studio, a dark room for the photography society, a multiple-purpose hall and offices for most of the societies.