ABSTRACT
This chapter spells out the idea of a university, as defined in the ancient and medieval periods and traces its historical evolution. Universities are classified into five generations. After quickly reviewing the growth of five generations of universities, starting from the ancient period to those of the new millennium, it offers an extensive comment on the universities of the present generation. It is observed that the universities of the fourth and the fifth generations that belong to the twentieth and twenty-first centuries have drastically changed the very concept, definition, nature, mission and functioning and almost every aspect of universities. The need to recover the idea of the university is highlighted.
