About us

In the last three decades, higher education in Ethiopia has been expanding rapidly in terms of the number of universities and students both in government and private sectors. Nonetheless, Haramaya University (HU) is a pioneer among higher learning institutions in Ethiopia in producing competent and qualified graduates in many fields of study since its establishment in 1952.

The University launched Master’s degree in 1979/80 academic year with a few students in the fields of Agriculture and with the establishment of the famous School of Graduate Studies (SGS). Since then, it has gone through a lot of transformations and opened many postgraduate programs in various fields of studies. The university also launched Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) programs in 2003/04 academic year.

Now-a-days, quality teaching has become an issue of importance as the landscape of higher education has been facing continuous changes: increased international competition, increasing social and geographical diversity of the student body, increasing demands of value for money, introduction of information technologies, etc. Moreover, the governments, the students and their families, the employers, and the fund providers increasingly demand value for their money and desire more efficiency through teaching. Quality teaching initiatives need strong collaborative efforts from the instructors in particular and from the university management in general.

In this regard, HU has made considerable efforts to improve the quality of education, research and community engagement in order to promote and uphold the lives and livelihoods of the Ethiopian people. Moreover, the university has been working actively and delivering quality postgraduate teaching and research that have contributed much towards the high-level trained human resource and problem solving research outputs. The University has been producing a considerable number of postgraduate students each academic year for the last four decades. Since the University began its transformation in all aspects of human resources and academic programs, many new programs have been launched during the past decades. Currently, more than 4000 postgraduate students are enrolled in more than 35 PhD and 118 Masters Programs at HU and many more are in the pipe line.

In the view of transformation, the SGS was recalibrated in 2014/15 academic year and emerged as Postgraduate Program Directorate (PGPD). Keeping this in mind, the PGPD, in collaboration with all Colleges, Haramaya Institute of Technology, Sport Science Academy, Schools, and Departments, is doing its best to maintain and improve the quality of its postgraduate education and research works and create competent and effective professionals in all areas of specialization.

Haramaya University has already been differentiated as a research and postgraduate university among few higher learning institutions in Ethiopia. Fundamentally, research and postgraduate universities are expected to invest heavily in technology and research facilities, and are, therefore, often the site of important findings, exciting innovations, and medical breakthroughs. Since its designation, HU is committed to research and postgraduate as a central part of its mission and vision and invests more in research project which consequently provide meaningful and extensive opportunities for its students, academic and support staff, and the community at large. In particular, PGPD is working in collaboration with our university management, senior and junior academic staff and researchers, support staff, the students, and the community to conduct original research that attracts funding organizations to support the work of students and staff, as well as to access capital for establishing laboratories, technology and fellowships in HU.

Haramaya University aspires to become one of the best research and postgraduate universities in East Africa by the year 2030. To this end, the aspirations and ambitions of Postgraduate Program Directorate is to support and facilitate the designing and development of demand-driven programs, the undertaking of problem-solving and cutting-edge research by postgraduate students, and the dissemination of generated and adapted knowledge and technologies for socio-economic transformation of the society in all fields of studies.