Yerevan State University is today the oldest and perhaps the most prestigious higher educational institution in Armenia. Despite the fact that his story began relatively recently by university standards, he is highly respected in society, and the diplomas of this university are highly valued.
History of University
Before the Socialist Revolution in the Russian Empire, the inhabitants of Transcaucasia were forced to leave their home country to receive an education. Most often, Armenians traveled to Russia or Europe. For a long time in Georgia there was a special university, founded by immigrants from Armenia, in which their former compatriots could gain knowledge.
However, after the Russian Revolution and the closure of the university in Georgia, the question arose of creating an independent university in Armenia. The organization of Yerevan State University was resolved on May 16, 1919. Then the government of the first Republic of Armenia established a new educational institution in which four faculties worked for the first time.
Already on January 31, 1920, the university accepted its first students. In the first year of its existence, however, only one faculty functioned fully, at which 262 students were trained, and there were 32 teachers. To reiterate lectures, the rector invited well-known Armenian scientists with an impeccable academic reputation from European countries.
University in the years of the USSR
In the twenties of the faculties at Yerevan State University, there were five: social studies, technical, oriental, Soviet construction and pedagogical. In the thirties, the number of faculties increased to eight. Being the first higher educational institution in the republic, Yerevan University served as the basis for the creation of other universities in the country.
So, at the beginning of the thirties, the State Medical Institute was formed on the basis of the medical faculty, the first rector of which was Hakob Hovhannisyan, who had previously headed Yerevan University.
By the time the republic gained independence, there were already seventeen faculties at the university. In independent Armenia, the university status remained very high, which was also associated with the innovative efforts undertaken by the leadership of the university. Since 1995, the university switched to a two-stage education system, which allowed it to enter into closer relations with European and American universities.
Other prestigious universities in Armenia
One of the higher educational institutions created on the basis of the faculty of Yerevan University was Yerevan State University of Architecture and Construction. This university was created on the basis of the technical faculty of the main university of the country, after which it began to actively develop.
The first graduation of the university consisted of only seven people who left the walls of alma mater in 1928. Subsequently, the Polytechnic Institute was created on the basis of the University of Architecture, to which the Chemical Engineering Institute was attached. Thus, Yerevan State University acted as the founder of a whole family of higher educational institutions of Armenia, each of which changed orientation, expanded its profile and developed according to its own logic.
The modern education system of Armenia
Today, the higher education system of the Republic of Armenia is a very complex structured education, which includes numerous universities, academies, institutes and conservatory.
Despite the fact that the transition to a two-tier system of higher education was completed in the mid-nineties, today students can still choose whether they will study in the specialty or undergraduate and graduate programs.
In general, it is worth saying that the modern higher education of the republic is organized in accordance with generally accepted international standards and inherits the Soviet system of values. A diploma of higher education is considered prestigious and helps the graduate with employment.