London School of Economics

London School of Economics and Political Science
Coat of arms
MottoLatin: Rerum cognoscere causas
Motto in English
To understand the causes of things
TypePublic research university
Established1895; 129 years ago (1895)
Endowment£229.3 million (2023)[1]
Budget£466.1 million (2022–23)[1]
ChairSusan Liautaud[2]
VisitorLucy Powell
(as Lord President of the Council ex officio)
ChancellorThe Princess Royal
(as Chancellor of the University of London)
President and Vice-ChancellorLarry Kramer
Academic staff
1,910 (2022/23)[3]
Administrative staff
2,520 (2022/23)[3]
Students13,295 (2022/23)[4]
Undergraduates5,950 (2022/23)[4]
Postgraduates7,350 (2022/23)[4]
Location
London
,
England

51°30′50″N 0°07′00″W / 51.51389°N 0.11667°W / 51.51389; -0.11667
CampusUrban
NewspaperThe Beaver
ColoursPurple, black and gold[5]
                     
Affiliations
MascotBeaver
Websitelse.ac.uk

The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidney Webb, Beatrice Webb, Graham Wallas and George Bernard Shaw, LSE joined the University of London in 1900 and established its first degree courses under the auspices of the university in 1901.[6] LSE began awarding its degrees in its own name in 2008,[7] prior to which it awarded degrees of the University of London. It became a university in its own right within the University of London in 2022.[8]

LSE is located in the London Borough of Camden and Westminster, Central London, near the boundary between Covent Garden and Holborn. The area is historically known as Clare Market. LSE has more than 11,000 students, just under seventy percent of whom come from outside the UK, and 3,300 staff.[9] The university has the sixth-largest endowment of any university in the UK and in 2022/23, it had an income of £466.1 million of which £39.6 million was from research grants.[1] Despite its name, the school is organised into 25 academic departments and institutes which conduct teaching and research across a range of pure and applied social sciences.[9]

LSE is a member of the Russell Group, Association of Commonwealth Universities and the European University Association, and is typically considered part of the "golden triangle" of research universities in the south east of England. The LSE also forms part of CIVICA – The European University of Social Sciences, a network of eight European universities focused on research in the social sciences.[10] The 2025 Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide ranked the London School of Economics as the number one university in the United Kingdom and named it their University of the Year.[11] In the 2021 Research Excellence Framework, the school had the third highest grade point average in the United Kingdom (joint with the University of Cambridge).[12]

LSE alumni and faculty include 55 past or present heads of state or government and 20 Nobel laureates. As of 2024, 15 out of 56 Nobel Memorial Prizes in Economics had been awarded to LSE alumni, current staff, or former staff. LSE alumni and faculty have also won 3 Nobel Peace Prizes and 2 Nobel Prizes in Literature.[13][14] The university has educated the most billionaires (11) of any European university according to a 2014 global census of US dollar billionaires.[15]

  1. ^ a b c "Financial Statements for the Year to 31 July 2023" (PDF). London School of Economics. p. 55. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 December 2023. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  2. ^ "Council". London School of Economics. Archived from the original on 2 August 2022. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  3. ^ a b "Who's working in HE?". www.hesa.ac.uk. Higher Education Statistics Agency.
  4. ^ a b c "Where do HE students study? | HESA". hesa.ac.uk. Higher Education Statistics Agency.
  5. ^ "Woolen Scarf with Crest Embroidery". LSE Students' Union. Archived from the original on 16 January 2017. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
  6. ^ "Beginnings : LSE : The Founders" (PDF). London School of Economics. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 December 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  7. ^ "Academic dress". The London School of Economics and Political Science. Archived from the original on 21 May 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2021. Since the granting of its own degree awarding powers in July 2008, students have worn LSE-specific gowns
  8. ^ Susan Liautaud. "Chair's Blog: Summer Term 2022". Archived from the original on 25 January 2023. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  9. ^ a b "About LSE – Key facts". London School of Economics. Archived from the original on 30 November 2016. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  10. ^ "LSE becomes the eighth full member of CIVICA – The European University of Social Sciences" (Press release). CIVICA. 7 July 2020. Archived from the original on 22 October 2020. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  11. ^ "UK university rankings 2025". The Times. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
  12. ^ Simon Baker; Jack Grove. "REF 2021: Golden triangle looks set to lose funding share". Times Higher Education. Archived from the original on 30 January 2023. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  13. ^ "LSE People: Nobel Prize Winners". London School of Economics and Political Science. Archived from the original on 23 May 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
  14. ^ "All Prizes in Economic Sciences". Nobelprize.org. Nobel Media. Archived from the original on 10 August 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
  15. ^ "Where do billionaires go to university?". BBC News. Archived from the original on 27 December 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2014.