Unity University is the first privately owned institute of higher learning to be awarded full-fledged university status in Ethiopia by the Ministry of Education. It is also the first private university

Private university

Private universities are universities not operated by governments, although many receive public subsidies, especially in the form of tax breaks and public student loans and grants. Depending on their location, private universities may be subject to government regulation. Private universities are...

 in the country to offer postgraduate programs leading to master’s degree

Master's degree

A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...

 in Business Administration

Master of Business Administration

The Master of Business Administration is a :master's degree in business administration, which attracts people from a wide range of academic disciplines. The MBA designation originated in the United States, emerging from the late 19th century as the country industrialized and companies sought out...

 (MBA) and Development Economics

Development economics

Development Economics is a branch of economics which deals with economic aspects of the development process in low-income countries. Its focus is not only on methods of promoting economic growth and structural change but also on improving the potential for the mass of the population, for example,...

 (MA).

History

Established in 1991 as a language school

Language school

A language school is a school where one studies a foreign language. Classes at a language school are usually geared towards, but not limited to, communicative competence in a foreign language...

 teaching English, French, Italian and Arabic, Unity College was the first private college

Private school

Private schools, also known as independent schools or nonstate schools, are not administered by local, state or national governments; thus, they retain the right to select their students and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students' tuition, rather than relying on mandatory...

 in Ethiopia. By the end of the decade, it had launched diploma programs in accounting, marketing, business and personnel administration

Human resources

Human resources is a term used to describe the individuals who make up the workforce of an organization, although it is also applied in labor economics to, for example, business sectors or even whole nations...

 as well as secretarial science. In the subsequent years, Unity College consolidated its existing diploma programs and upgraded its institutional services by offering the first degree courses to be given by a private institute in Ethiopia.

In 1993, the Distance and Continuing program was launched. Two years later, in 1995, Unity opened a new campus outside Addis Ababa

Addis Ababa

Addis Ababa is the capital city of Ethiopia...

 at Adama. In August 2002 Unity College was officially renamed Unity University College, and in March 2007 it became the first private institute of higher learning to offer postgraduate programs leading to MA and MBA degrees in the country.

In September 2008, the Ministry of Education awarded Unity University College full University status making it the first private institute of higher learning to become a full-fledged University in Ethiopia.

Role

In addition to its educational role, the University encourages research and holds annual multi-disciplinary conferences. The proceedings of these conferences are published in its academic journal, The Ethiopian Journal of Business and Development.

Unity University is also very active in community service

Community service

Community service is donated service or activity that is performed by someone or a group of people for the benefit of the public or its institutions....

 programs. It is involved in activities related to environmental protection

Environmental movement

The environmental movement, a term that includes the conservation and green politics, is a diverse scientific, social, and political movement for addressing environmental issues....

, and has participated in the "Clean and Green Addis Ababa" initiative, and in other programs sponsored by the city council and Chamber of Commerce

Chamber of commerce

A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...

 of Addis Ababa, such as HIV

HIV

Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...

/AIDS

AIDS

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...

awareness and prevention.

The university offers scholarships to students with financial difficulties, including a Girls’ Project, which extends assistance to deserving female students who lack financial resources. It also gives scholarships to its own staff who wish to upgrade their academic status, and to students with outstanding records in sports and other cultural activities.

Size

The current student population is 7,370, with 160 enrolled in the postgraduate program, 3,487 in undergraduate studies, and 927 in diploma programs. The Distance/Continuing program is offered to over 3,330 students enrolled at 38 centers.

The academic staff of the university number more than 2,000, with 8.5% of the instructors being female. There are over 450 academic, administrative, and support staff.