Verdurian universities
From Almeopedia
The university (šriftanáe) is the place for serious academic study. Specialties include history, Caďinor, Cuêzi, Verdurian, linguistics, the various genres of literature, theatre, philosophy, mathematics, oratory, education, astronomy, civil administration, geography, music, war, and science.
The first level of the šriftanáe, the suméria, is more or less formalized, and takes three or four years. Thereafter the student is called a sumerul. A sumerul can go into business or government, teach at a lower level in the educational system, tutor, or continue to study. Formerly, he could also teach at the university; but now a second level of study, called the scrifteca, is required for this. A person with a scrifteca is a recognized master of his subject, can teach at the university itself, and is dignified with the title Šriftom, abbreviated Šm.
A student pursuing a purely academic career would study at an avisar (academy) from age 13 to 17, take their suméria over three years (ages 18 to 20), and the scrifteca in three more (ages 21 to 24). These can vary quite a bit in practice, and it's usual to wait some years before commencing a scrifteca.
No level of education is closed to women, but only about a tenth of university students (smericî) are women.
In contrast to our system, where the college authorities are considered to act in loco parentis, smericî are considered to be adults. Thus, their freedom of action is limited only by penury. (Nobles consider the avisar to be sufficient education for their heirs, perhaps supplemented by travel; only their third or fourth-born children, who will not inherit the estate and thus need a means of getting on in life, are sent to university.)
The six universities of Verduria, with their founding dates and the monarchs who granted their charters, as as follows:
| Verdúria | 2312 | Caďinorian emperor Sörtoro |
| Šerian | 2571 | Duke Řezörn of Šerian |
| Curesi | 2982 | Ževuran the Great |
| Zeir | 2985 | Ževuran the Great |
| Vyat | 3290 | Elena Eleďe |
| so Sar (Nuo) | 3314 | Mëranac 1e Abolineron |
