The TU Braunschweig (English: University of Brunswick – Institute of Technology) is the oldest Technische Universität (comparable to an institute of technology in the American system) in Germany. It was founded in 1745 as Collegium Carolinum and is a member of TU9, an incorporated society of the most renowned and largest German institutes of technology. It is commonly ranked among the top universities for engineering in Germany. Today it has about 15,500 students, making it the third largest university in Lower Saxony after the University of Göttingen and the University of Hanover.