The Alexandru Ioan Cuza University (Romanian: Universitatea "Alexandru Ioan Cuza") is a public university located in Iaşi, Romania. The University of Iaşi, as it was named at first, is the oldest higher education institution in Romania, founded one year after the establishment of the Romanian state, by an 1860 decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza, under whom the former Academia Mihăileană was converted to a university. Its coat of arms with the Y shaped heraldic crotch simbolizes the three initiatives which led to the foundation of the University: the Trei Ierarhi Collegium, the Academia Mihăileană, the University of Iaşi. The central element is the Bible, the classic emblem of higher education. The three shiny stars stand for the three faculties of the University at its foundation moment, Philosophy, Law and Theology, on blue and argent background, the same colors used on the Cuza family shield. In 2008, for the third year in a row, the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University was placed first in the national research ranking compiled on the basis of Shanghai criteria.