| University of Mostar | |
| Native Name: | Свеучилиште у Мостару<br>Sveučilište u Mostaru |
| Established: | [1] |
| Administrative Staff: | 156 |
| Faculty: | 1,002 |
| Rector: | Zoran Tomić |
| Students: | 7,510 |
| City: | Mostar |
| Country: | Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| Campus: | Urban |
| Affiliations: | European University Association |
| Qs Eeca: | 301-350 |
| Qs Eeca Year: | 2022 |
| Qs Eeca Ref: | [2] |
The University of Mostar (Sveučilište u Mostaru|Свеучилиште у Мостару; la|Universitas Studiorum Mostariensis) is a public university located in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The university has ten faculties and one Academy of Fine Arts, with 50 majors, 46 specializations and 70 study groups.[3]
Croatian nationalists claim the roots of the university date back to 1895 when the Franciscan theological school was established in the village of Široki Brijeg.
The university was founded by Croatian nationalists in 1993 in Mostar and the Croatian language was made its official language. The University of Mostar is the only Croatian speaking university in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with around 1,000 employees. There are ten faculties, academy of fine arts, eight institutes and the student center within the university.
The University of Mostar participates in Rectors' Conference of Bosnia and Herzegovina and it is also an associate member of the Croatian Rectors' Conference. The university seal shows the building of the Franciscan monastery.
During the Bosnian War, between April 3, 1992, and May 9, 1993, the Croatian nationalists gradually, through illegal means, took over the campus of the University Džemal Bijedić of Mostar and forcibly established the University of Mostar as "Croats only" institution. Bosniak professors were fired and expelled to the parts of the city under control of Bosnian Army. Subsequently, campus buildings were used to imprison Bosnian Army soldiers and Bosniak citizens of Mostar.[4] All assets of University Džemal Bijedić, including buildings, equipment, library funds, student dormitories and others, were taken away and given to University of Mostar. University of Mostar has never compensated University Džemal Bijedić for this theft.
On 7 and 8 February 2019 University was the host of the Third Rector's Forum of the Southeastern Europe and Western Balkans which followed the first forum in Novi Sad, the second in Zagreb and preceded the fourth one in Podgorica.[5] [6] Representatives of over 30 institutions from the region attended the event.[6]
The University of Mostar has around 16,000 students, which makes it the third largest university in Bosnia and Herzegovina.[7] Through years, the University of Mostar saw rapid growth in number of students. In the academic year of 2006–07, it had 6,256 students,[8] while in 2014–15 it had 10,712 students.[7]
The number of foreign students, of whom the vast majority are from neighbouring Croatia, is also growing. In the academic year of 2008–09, there were 292 students from Croatia, while in 2012–13 there were 644.[9] In 2014–15, students from Croatia comprised 17% of the total student population.[7]