The University of Passau (German Universität Passau) is a public research university located in Passau, Lower Bavaria, Germany. Founded in 1978, it is the youngest university in Bavaria and has therefore the most modern campus in the state. Nevertheless, it is the extension of the centuries old Institute for Catholic Studies. Today it consists of five faculties and offers degree programs at undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral levels in 22 courses. The university was founded on August 1, 1978 at the behest of the Bayerischer Landtag (Bavarian State Congress). However its history goes back to 1622 when an Institute for Catholic Studies was incorporated to the Gymnasium founded by Fürst Leopold in 1612. In 1773 the University was renamed to fürstbischöfliche Akademie, a name that highlighted its relationship to the bishop. Nevertheless, in 1803 it was degraded to merely a kurfürstliches Lyzeum and lost hence its status as a university. After some years of abandonment, it was refounded 1803 as Passauer Lyzeum. This Lyzeum grew over the years until it became a Philosophy-Theology University in 1923.