In 1581, upon the request of the Hungarian prince István Báthory, the Jesuits founded the first college in the city. This had three schools, namely a school of law, a school of theology, and a school of philosophy.

In 1698, a new University was founded by the Vienna Court and administered by the Jesuits. This was the “Academia Societatis Jesu Claudiopolitana.” The monks reorganized the university in 1776 and inaugurated four schools — a school of theology, a school of law, a school of philosophy, and a school of medicine.

The main building of the “Babeº-Bolyai” University was designed by architect Carol Meixner and erected between 1892 and 1902. The name of the university evokes the personalities of two internationally renowned scientists: the Romanian bacteriologist Victor Babeº (1854-1926), and the Hungarian mathematician Janos Bolyai (1802-1860). This name was given to the university in 1959, when the two existing universities merged, i.e. the Hungarian university bearing the name of Janos Bolyai (founded in 1872 by order of Emperor Franz Joseph), and the Romanian university bearing the name of Victor Babeº (founded in 1920).