Public universities include the University of the West of Scotland (UWS), previously the University of Paisley. About 10,000 students attend the Paisley campus, which offers a variety of programmes and chances for research in chemical engineering, general engineering, education, hospitality, recreation, and tourism. It has a campus in London, England, and four campuses in the Scottish towns of Paisley, Blantyre, Dumfries, and Ayr.
Additionally, UWS is placed among the top 600 universities in the world in the 2020 Times Higher Education world university rankings. The university was founded in 1897, offered degree programmes in the early 1900s, and received university status in 1992. The university was established in August 2007 due to the University of Paisley's merger with Bell College, Hamilton. The University of the West of Scotland was chosen as a combined institution by the Privy Council on November 30, 2007.