There are also teacher training colleges, teaching hospitals such as the Glasgow Royal Infirmary, the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Glasgow School of Art, and ten other further education colleges. The University of Glasgow is a member of the Russell Group of elite British universities and is a founding member of the organisation Universitas 21, an international grouping of universities dedicated to setting world-wide standards for higher education.

The University of Strathclyde is a founding member of the European Consortium of Innovative Universities: a consortium of research universities focussed on collaboration in innovative teaching and learning, enhancement of university-society interaction, internationalisation of the student and staff experience, and active engagement in policy development and practice within the evolving European Higher Education Area. The University of Strathclyde and The University of Warwick are the only two British Universities who are members.

Glasgow is home to a student population in excess of 168,000, the largest in Scotland and second largest in the United Kingdom, the majority of them living in the West End of the city.