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Before the foundation of UCL in 1826, the benefits of a university
education in England were available only to men and only to those who
were members of the Church of England. UCL, the first university
established in England after Oxford and Cambridge, was founded to
provide academic opportunities to non-Anglicans and placed no
restrictions on race, class or religion of its students. In 1878, it
also became the first British university to admit women on equal terms
to men. Its academic programme was also innovative in its recognition
of new disciplines, including many of the social sciences.
The
Chair of Political Economy at UCL was created in 1828 in memory of
David Ricardo, establishing the first Department of Economics in
England.