Based on its ties to the ancient Mohyla Academy, NaUKMA claims to be the oldest institution of higher education in Kyiv and all of Ukraine, however this is disputed on the grounds that NaUKMA has formally existed as a modern university since only 1991, and experienced a long break of 174 years in its history. Other claimants to the university's title include Lviv University, founded in 1661, which holds the undisputed record for being the oldest continuously operating university in Ukraine, and Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (established in 1834) which is the oldest continuously operating higher educational institution in the nation's capital - Kyiv.