Ardhi University also known as ARU (''Chuo Kikuu Ardhi'', in Swahili) is a

public university A public university, state university, or public college is a university or college that is State ownership, owned by the state or receives significant funding from a government. Whether a national university is considered public varies from o ...

located in Makongo in

Kinondoni District Kinondoni District, officially the Kinondoni Municipal Council (''Halimashauri ya Manispaa ya Kinondoni'', in Swahili language, Swahili) is one of five Districts of Tanzania, districts of the Dar es Salaam Region of Tanzania. The district is bord ...

of Dar es Salaam Region,

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

. It was established 28 March 2007, though it has been offering training for more than 60 years in different status. It is situated on Observation Hill close to

University of Dar es Salaam The University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) (Swahili: ''Chuo Kikuu cha Dar es Salaam'') is a public university located in Ubungo District, Dar es Salaam Region, Tanzania. It was established in 1961 as an affiliate college of the University of London. ...

, in which it was a constituent college from 1996 to 2007, when it was known as University College of Lands and Architectural Studies—UCLAS. Prior being part of University of Dar es Salaam, Ardhi University was known as Ardhi Institute with history extending to mid-1950s. Today, academic activities at the university are generated in four schools as follows: 1. School of Architecture, Construction Economics and Management (SACEM) 2. School of Earth Sciences, Real Estates, Business and Informatics (SERBI) 3. School of Engineering and Environmental Studies (SEES) 4. School of Spatial Planning and Social Science (SSPSS) The number of academic staff with doctoral degrees has increased from three in 1996 to 43 in 2008.

History

The university was established under University Act No 7 of 2005, and came into being after the signing of Ardhi University Charter by the President of United Republic of Tanzania,

Jakaya Kikwete Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete (born 7 October 1950) is a Tanzanian politician who was the List of Presidents of Tanzania, fourth president of Tanzania, in office from 2005 to 2015. Prior to his election as president, he was the Ministry of Foreign Aff ...

on 28 March 2007. The roots of Ardhi University can be traced back to pre-

independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

days when a Surveying Training School offering technician certificate courses in land surveying was established in

Dar es Salaam Dar es Salaam (, ; from ) is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of the Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over 7 million people, Dar es Salaam is the largest city in East Africa by population and the ...

. In 1974, the name was changed to Ardhi Institute and its range of courses expanded to include building design and building economics. In the early 1980s, the public health engineering course (later renamed ‘environmental engineering’) was introduced. In 1996 the Ardhi Institute became a constituent college of the University of Dar es Salaam, and ten years later was granted autonomy as Ardhi University. During the decade of association with the University of Dar es Salaam, the Ardhi Institute grew dramatically: the number of academic programmes on offer increased from six to 39, while the number of students grew from 400 to 1,400. In 1979, the Centre for Housing Studies was established as joint project between the governments of Tanzania and the Netherlands. The centre has now grown into the Institute of Human Settlement Studies, which is involved in the ‘regularisation of informal settlements’, with which Dar es Salaam is plentifully endowed.

Academics

The university currently offers

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education, usually in a college or university. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, ...

and

postgraduate Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor' ...

degrees in the following schools and an institution: * School of Architecture, Construction Economics and Management (SACEM) * School of Earth Sciences, Real Estates, Business and Informatics (SERBI) * School of Environmental Science and Technology (SEST) * School of Spatial Planning and Social Science (SSPSS) * Institute of Human Settlement Studies (IHSS)

References

{{Authority control Public universities in Tanzania Universities in Dar es Salaam Universities and colleges established in 2007 2007 establishments in Tanzania Education in Dar es Salaam