Does 'the' comes before university

Answer 1

Neither of them have to come first (except perhaps alphabetically). You could go only to a university, or only to a college. In the cases where you would go to both, college would probably come first, because you might transfer from a two-year college to a university, or go from a college to a university for grad school, but it is also possible to move the other way, from a university to a state college or something, so there really isn't a set order.

Answer 2

When in doubt, do not use the definite article for universities. A definite article should be applied only if The is used in running text throughout university materials and if that usage has caught on elsewhere. This guideline is a weak version of the most-common-name rule.

Most universities do not have a definite article in their names. The preceding websites include title phrases "The University of X", but in running text, they refer to themselves as "... the University of X...". According the rule of thumb, "The" is not considered to be a part of their name.