The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) opened in 1895. It was the idea of Sidney Webb, supported by Beatrice Webb, Graham Wallas and George Bernard Shaw. In 1900 it joined the reformed University of London as its Faculty of Economics; it obtained the right to award its own degrees in 2006 and conferred the first LSE degree in 2008. Its financial statements describe the School as a company limited by guarantee and an exempt charity.
Registered full-time students numbered 11,887 in 2024-25, and 13,728 including part-time, visiting and executive students. Total income for the year was £553.3 million. LSE specialises in the social sciences and lists 21 Nobel Prizes connected with the School between 1925 and 2024. Professor Larry Kramer took office as President and Vice Chancellor on 1 April 2024.