Oxford University Granted Record EU Loan To Renovate Ancient Buildings

Oxford University dates back to the 11th century

Oxford University has secured the largest ever European Investment Bank university loan as part of its programme to renovate some of its 500-year-old buildings and expand research facilities. The 200 million pound (US$310 million) loan is a major boost to the university's fundraising campaign, which has brought in over 2 billion pounds since 2004.

However the figure still pales in comparison to the sums gathered by its U.S. counterparts. Harvard University, the richest in the world, raised US$1.16 billion last year alone.

Reuters report continues:

Oxford University, which dates back to the 11th century, will use the 30-year loan to replace and upgrade existing buildings, build new laboratories for the bioscience and physics departments, and refurbish the Weston Library, whose treasures include original manuscripts from William Shakespeare.

"Their support now gives us greater freedom to progress our vision of a continually evolving campus, enabling world-leading academics to tackle the great research challenges of the 21st Century," said Andrew Hamilton, Oxford's vice-chancellor, in a statement.

The loan is the largest ever for university investment by the EIB, the European Union's long-term lending institution.

The United Kingdom is the largest beneficiary of EIB university lending - in the last five years it has provided 1.45 billion pounds for investment in 20 universities across the country.