The University of Alcalá is a public university located in Alcalá de Henares, a city 35 km northeast of Madrid in Spain and also the third-largest city of the region. It was founded in 1293 as a Studium Generale for the public, and was refounded in 1977. The University of Alcalá is especially renowned in the Spanish-speaking world for its annual presentation of the highly prestigious Cervantes Prize.
The university currently enrolls 28,336 students, 17,252 of whom are studying undergraduate degrees which are taught by a teaching staff of 2,608 professors, lecturers and researchers belonging to 24 departments. The administrative tasks is carried out by the Administration and Services, comprising approximately 800 people.
One of the university's campuses, located in the city center, is housed partly in historic buildings which were once used by the Complutense University of Madrid, which was located in Alcalá from its medieval origins until it was moved to Madrid in 1836.