Mahasarakham University (MSU; ; , ''pronounced:'' má-hăa wít-tá-yaa-lai má-hăa-săa-rá-kaam) is a Thai public

university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

in Maha Sarakham province, about 470 kilometres from

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

. In 2017 it enrolled 39,000 students. MSU is the only Thai university to offer postgraduate programs in paleontology and a Bachelor of Arts in the

Khmer language Khmer ( ; , Romanization of Khmer#UNGEGN, UNGEGN: ) is an Austroasiatic language spoken natively by the Khmer people. This language is an official language and national language of Cambodia. The language is also widely spoken by Khmer people i ...

. It was the first

Isan Northeast Thailand or Isan (Isan language, Isan/, ; ; also written as Isaan, Isarn, Issarn, Issan, Esan, or Esarn; from Pāli ''isāna'' or Sanskrit ईशान्य ''īśānya'' "northeast") consists of 20 provinces in northeastern Thai ...

university to offer a BA in accounting and the second to offer PhD courses in the same subject. Its Faculty of Education, the flagship of MSU, was voted Thailand's Best Education Faculty in 2010 by the National Education Office. The university is the first Thai

higher education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

institution rated under the QS Stars System for excellence in higher education. It has become one of the top 20 universities in Thailand based on the

Webometrics The science of webometrics (also cybermetrics) tries to measure the World Wide Web to get knowledge about the number and types of hyperlinks, structure of the World Wide Web and using patterns. According to Björneborn and Ingwersen, the definiti ...

Ranking of World Universities.

History

The development of Mahasarakham University can be traced back to 1963, when it was known as "Mahasarakham Teacher's Training College". On 27 March 1968, it was established as Mahasarakham College of Education for strengthening and expanding higher education in the Northeastern region (

) of the nation. Located in the outer north area of Maha Sarakham province, a small town right at the center of the region, the college has been responsible for developing quality educators to serve educational institutions of all levels. In 1974, the college's status was elevated when it became a regional campus of Srinakharinwirot University. At that time, there were four academic faculties: education, humanities, social sciences, and science. In 1994, the college gained its statutory status through the Thai Higher Education Act and became Mahasarakham University, the 22nd public university of Thailand Mahasarakham University has since expanded rapidly in academic infrastructure, facilities, and relevant services. It became a comprehensive university, offering undergraduate and graduate degree programs in three academic clusters: social sciences; pure and applied sciences; and health sciences. In 1988, the Kham Riang Campus, known as the New Campus, was established, approximately seven kilometres from the Old Campus. With 17 faculties and two colleges, the university has been recognized as one of Thailand's fastest growing. The total student enrolment has increased from thousands in its earlier years to about 40,000 students in 2016. To extend its academic services to remote communities, MSU has had 15 academic service centers in the northeastern region, later reorganized into two centres in Nakhon Ratchasima province and Udon Thani province. As a regional education center, Maha Sarakham is known as the "

Taxila Taxila or Takshashila () is a city in the Pothohar region of Punjab, Pakistan. Located in the Taxila Tehsil of Rawalpindi District, it lies approximately northwest of the Islamabad–Rawalpindi metropolitan area and is just south of the ...

(or Takshashila) (a Hindu and Buddhist centre of learning in ancient India) of

Budget

The university was allocated 1,096 million

baht The baht (; , ; currency sign, sign: ฿; ISO 4217, code: THB) is the official currency of Thailand. It is divided into 100 ''satang'' (, ). Prior to decimalisation, the baht was divided into eight ''fueang'' (, ), each of eight ''at'' (, ). The ...

in federal funding for

fiscal year A fiscal year (also known as a financial year, or sometimes budget year) is used in government accounting, which varies between countries, and for budget purposes. It is also used for financial reporting by businesses and other organizations. La ...

2021, up from 1,034 million baht for FY2020.

Campuses

The university has two campuses: the Old Campus in Maha Sarakham city center and the New Campus in the Kham Riang Sub-district of Kantharawichai District. The New Campus is now the administrative headquarters of the university.

Downtown campus

The original campus of Mahasarakham University, Downtown Campus, also known as the Old Campus (''mor gao'' — ''Thai:'' ม.เก่า), is in the city center. It covers an area of . This campus hosts the Faculty of Education, Faculty of Tourism and Hotel Management, Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Environment and Resource Studies, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, Faculty of Cultural Sciences, and the Institute of Northeastern Arts and Culture.

Kham Riang campus

The Kham Riang Campus, known as the New Campus (''mor mai'' — ''Thai'': ม.ใหม่), is in the northwest of the city of Kham Riang District, seven kilometres from the city centre. This campus with a total area of hosts new buildings and facilities to serve the education community and houses the main administrative center and most of the academic faculties, colleges, and research institutes of the university.

Academic divisions

MSU has 18 faculties, two colleges, and nine research centres.

Faculties

Humanities and social sciences

* Faculty of Education ( คณะศึกษาศาสตร์) * Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences ( คณะมนุษยศาสตร์และสังคมศาสตร์) * Mahasarakham Business School ( คณะการบัญชีและการจัดการ) * Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts ( คณะศิลปกรรมศาสตร์) * Faculty of Tourism and Hotel Management ( คณะการท่องเที่ยวและการโรงแรม) * Faculty of Cultural Science ( คณะวัฒนธรรมศาสตร์) * Faculty of Laws ( คณะนิติศาสตร์)

Applied sciences and technologies

* Faculty of Architecture, Urban Design and Creative Arts ( คณะสถาปัตยกรรมศาสตร์ ผังเมืองและนฤมิตศิลป์) * Faculty of Engineering ( วิศวกรรมศาสตร์)) * Faculty of Environment and Resource Studies ( คณะสิ่งแวดล้อมและทรัพยากรศาสตร์) * Faculty of Informatics ( คณะวิทยาการสารสนเทศ) * Faculty of Science ( คณะวิทยาศาสตร์) * Faculty of Technology ( คณะเทคโนโลยี)

Health sciences

Faculty of Medicine A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, professional school, or forms a part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, ...

( คณะแพทยศาสตร์) * Faculty of Nursing ( คณะพยาบาลศาสตร์) * Faculty of Pharmacy ( คณะเภสัชศาสตร์) * Faculty of Public Health ( คณะสาธารณสุขศาสตร์) * Faculty of Veterinary Sciences) ( คณะสัตวแพทยศาสตร์)