Background
About Hawassa University
Founded as a junior college of agriculture half a century ago at the heart of Hawassa City, Hawassa University (HU) has made significant strides towards becoming one of the top tier higher education institutions in Ethiopia with hundreds of academic programs in undergraduate, postgraduate, doctoral, medical specialty and sub-specialty offered across seven campuses in and nearby Hawassa. Hawassa University focuses on academic programs, research, innovation and community engagements that drive sustainable development across Ethiopia and a meaningful contribution to global knowledge. HU is poised to become an autonomous research university soon with priorities in Agriculture and Life Sciences; Medicine, Health Sciences & Human Nutrition; Physical sciences and Engineering; Social sciences, Humanities and Economics; and excellence in Teacher Education. Hawassa University is committed to advancing knowledge and innovation, nurturing internationally competent graduates, and engaging the community on issues of local, national and global significance by strengthening international, regional and local collaborations.
Foundation and Growth
The founding college, College of Agriculture, was established in 1976 and started off with 217 trainees in four diploma programs. Wondo Genet College of Forestry was a second founding college established in 1978. A third founding college ‘Dilla Teachers’ Education and Health Sciences College’ was established in 1996 further south. December 22, 1999 marked the establishment of “Debub University” by merging these three colleges in Southern part of Ethiopia while today’s Main Campus was under development. Debub University was, then, renamed “Hawassa University” in October, 2006 and the Dilla College eventually evolved into a separate university.
At the moment, Hawassa University comprises seven campuses out of which four: Main Campus, Technology Campus, College of Agriculture, and College of Medicine and Health Sciences, are located in Hawassa city; and the remaining: Wondo Genet College of Forestry and Natural Resources, Awada College of Business and Economics, and Bensa Daye Campus, are located outside Hawassa City in different towns of Sidama Region. HU has eight colleges and three institutes offering courses in 281 academic programs for over 22,000 plus students enrolled in undergraduate, postgraduate, doctoral, medical specialty and subspecialty areas both regular and continuing education programs across the seven campuses. Hawassa University hosts 2,000 plus academics and more than 6,000 administrative staff and health professionals working across its seven campuses.
Hawassa University is best known for its strong commitment to initiate, win, and execute collaborative projects sponsored by both international and local partners that have been playing vital roles in academic and research capacity building, enhancing research and innovation to solve local, regional and global problems; and deliver essential community services to empower local communities, youth and vulnerable groups through improved agricultural productivity, quality education, health service, and creating livelihood opportunities. For instance, more than a hundred international partners from around the world are currently collaborating with HU on 126 active collaborative at the moment. This is further enhanced by the locational advantage of having huge industries in its vicinity. That is, having the largest industry park in Africa, Hawassa Industrial Park, located adjacent to the main campus, and the Yirgalem Agro-Processing Industry, within a distance of 40 KMs make HU one of the most suitable academic and research institutions to engage in meaningful and problem-solving university-industry linkages.
Hawassa University is also known for having well established and advanced research centers and laboratories at the College of Agriculture, Wondogenet College of Forestry and Natural Resources, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Institute of Technology and College of Natural and Computational Sciences.
Moreover, Hawassa University is well known for its campuses’ green beauty and suitability for both residency and academic engagements. HU was ranked 1st in the 2022 UI Green Campus International Ranking among Ethiopian universities. On top of that, the university is founded in one of the most beautiful cities in Ethiopia, a tourist destination with highly suitable weather condition and ease of access to the center, only 275 KMs away from Addis Ababa.