History of Cambridge University

View over Trinity College, Gonville and Caius, Trinity Hall and Clare College towards King’s College Chapel, seen from St John’s College chapel. On the left, just in front of Kings College chapel, is the University Senate House.

Main article: List of colleges of the University of Cambridge
All students and many of the academics are attached to colleges, where they socialise. It is also the place where students may receive their small group teaching sessions, known as supervisions. Each college appoints its own teaching staff and fellows in each subject; decides which students to admit, in accordance with university regulations; provides small group teaching sessions, for undergraduates (though lectures are arranged and degrees are awarded by the university); and is responsible for the domestic arrangements and welfare of its own undergraduates, graduates, post-doctoral researchers, and staff in general.

The University of Cambridge currently has 31 colleges, of which three, Murray Edwards, Newnham and Lucy Cavendish, admit only women. The other colleges are now mixed, though most were originally all-male. Darwin was the first college to admit both men and women, while Churchill, Clare and King's colleges were the first previously all-male colleges to admit female undergraduates in 1972. Magdalene was the last all-male college to become mixed in 1988.[12] Clare Hall and Darwin admit only postgraduates, and Hughes Hall, Lucy Cavendish, St Edmund’s and Wolfson admit only mature (i.e. 21 years or older on date of matriculation) and graduate students. All other colleges admit both undergraduate and postgraduate students with no age restrictions. Colleges are not required to admit students in all subjects, with some colleges choosing not to offer subjects such as architecture, history of art or theology, but most offer close to the complete range. Some colleges maintain a bias towards certain subjects, for example with Churchill leaning towards the sciences and engineering,while others such as St Catharine's aim for a balanced intake.Costs to students (accommodation and food prices) vary considerably from college to college.Others maintain much more informal reputations, such as for the students of King's College to hold left-wing political views,or Robinson College and Churchill College's attempts to minimise its environmental impact.

There are also several theological colleges in Cambridge, including Westminster College and Ridley Hall Theological College, that are loosely affiliated with the university through the Cambridge Theological Federation.