Colleges of the University of Cambridge led by a Master, even when the Master is female. However, there are some exceptions, listed below. Girton College has always had a Mistress, even though male candidates have been able to run for the office since 1976. The above list does not include several former colleges that no longer exist. These include: Colleges of the University of Cambridge This is a list of the colleges within the University of Cambridge. These colleges provide most of the accommodation for undergraduates and graduates at the University and at the undergraduate level they have responsibility for admitting students to the University and
University of Cambridge gave graduates from Cambridge the right to teach "everywhere in Christendom". After Cambridge was described as a "studium generale" in a letter by Pope Nicholas IV in 1290, and confirmed as such in a bull by Pope John XXII in 1318, it became common for researchers from other European medieval universities to visit Cambridge to study or to give lecture courses. The colleges at the University of Cambridge were originally an incidental feature of the system. No college is as old as the university itself. The colleges were endowed fellowships of scholars. There were also institutions without endowments, called hostels.