Tribhuvan University


Tribhuvan University is a public university located in Kirtipur, Kathmandu, Nepal. Established in 1959, TU is the oldest and the largest university in Nepal. It offers 1,000 undergraduate and 500 postgraduate programs across a wide range of disciplines. Additionally, the institution has 62 constituent campuses and over 1,080 affiliated colleges across the country.

History

Established on 25 June 1959, Tribhuvan University is the oldest and largest university in Nepal. The university was named after the late King Tribhuvan. In its early years, all the postgraduate classes were held at Tripureshwor Campus, where the administrative office was also located. It was only in 1967 that the university was relocated to its main campus in Kirtipur – an ancient town about 5km south-west of the city of Kathmandu. The university site, spread over 154.77 hectares, constitutes the Central Administrative Office and the Central Campus.

Academics

Since its inception, the state-owned university has expanded its programmes. There are five technical institutes and four general faculties. The university offers 115 courses for the technical proficiency certificate level. TU offers 1079 courses at Bachelor's level and 1000 courses at Master's level. It offers PhD degrees in the technical institutes and faculties.
Tribhuvan University ran its programmes only through its constituent campuses before 1980. With the increasing number of students seeking higher education, it was not possible to accommodate all the students in the constituent campuses. This situation led to the establishment of colleges in the private sector because the constituent campuses alone could not meet the demand. From 1979 to 1980, TU started providing affiliation to private colleges. As of April 2016, 1,084 private and public colleges were affiliated with TU.
In the 2014–2015 academic session 405,341 students were enrolled in TU academic programmes. 148,141 students study in its 60 constituent campuses including 38 central departments, while 257,200 students study in 1,053 affiliated colleges.
Student enrollment and educational quality
Tribhuvan University is the leading University in Nepal. Many colleges are affiliated with Tribhuvan University. In 1971, all the community colleges were part of Tribhuvan University. The university has the largest number of full-time enrollments in the world. The 49th graduation ceremony of Tribhuvan University was on 18 December 2023, in Kathmandu, Nepal. The registrar of Tribhuvan University said more than 73000 students were graduating at that time. The significant number of graduates made Tribhuvan University hold a Guinness World Record.
Although the education system of Tribhuvan University has produced many graduates, many of them still need to get jobs in the market. They cannot find jobs in Nepal, so they go abroad to look for financial opportunities. Nepal's Public colleges are government-funded, and community colleges are privately funded. Both types of colleges are university-oriented and implement the university curriculum and university exam system. The university's education and services, such as business education, employment, training, and vocational education, are not up to date with new technology and career preparation.
TU has 8,841 teaching faculty and 7,413 non-teaching staff including the support staff in its constituent campuses. The number of total employees is 15,254.

Rankings

Tribhuvan University is ranked in the top 1201-1500 universities in the world as per the Times Higher Education World University Rankings in 2024, published by the Times Higher Education magazine. It is ranked among the 251-300 best universities of Asia. It is ranked at 6676 in the world and 2nd in the country as per the unirank University Ranking.

Technical institutes

The university administers its science and technology programs, such as BSc, BE, MBBS, etc., through its technical institutes. There are five technical institutes at the university, each taking care of a specific domain within the field of science and technology education.
There are five faculties and a total of 45 associated central departments at the university:

Institute of Science and Technology

  • Central Department of Physics
  • Central Department of Chemistry
  • Central Department of Botany
  • Central Department of Zoology
  • Central Department of Geology
  • Central Department of Microbiology
  • Central Department of Environmental Science
  • Central Department of Mathematics
  • Central Department of Statistics
  • Central Department of Biotechnology
  • Central Department of Computer Science and Information Technology

    Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

  • Central Department of English
  • Central Department of Nepali
  • Central Department of Hindi
  • Central Department of Linguistics
  • Central Department of History
  • Central Department of Culture
  • Central Department of Buddhist Studies
  • Central Department of Sociology/Anthropology
  • Central Department of Psychology
  • Central Department of Geography
  • Central Department of Political Science
  • Central Department of Economics
  • Central Department of Rural Development
  • Central Department of Population Studies
  • Central Department of Home Science
  • Central Department of Fine Arts
  • Central Department of Journalism and Mass Communication

    Faculty of Education

  • Central Department of Education
  • Central Department of Curriculum and Evaluation
  • Central Department of Educational Planning and Management
  • Central Department of Health and Physical Education
  • Central Department of Mathematics Education
  • Central Department of Science Education
  • Central Department of English Education
  • Central Department of Nepali Education
  • Central Department of Geography Education
  • Central Department of History Education
  • Central Department of Economics Education
  • Central Department of Political Science Education

    Faculty of Management

  • Central Department of Management
  • Central Department of Public Administration

    Faculty of Law

  • Central Department of Law

    The free student union at Tribhuvan University

Tribhuvan University also has a free student union as another facility. This free student union has established the rights and interests of students who come to study at the university and to solve students' problems. The committee of the students' union has to be elected at the university. The university students who are affiliated with different political parties vote for their supporter leaders. The student union election is held every two years. Regardless of winning by embracing the idea of any party, the student union works to solve problems for all students.

Constituent campuses

TU has 62 constituent campuses;
CampusMunicipalityDistrictProvince
Bhojpur Multiple CampusBhojpurBhojpurKoshi
Dhankuta Multiple CampusDhankutaDhankutaKoshi
Mahendra Ratna Multiple CampusIllamIlamKoshi
Mechi Multiple CampusBhadrapurJhapaKoshi
Gaurahadaha Agriculture CampusGaurahadahaJhapaKoshi
Degree CampusBiratnagarMorangKoshi
Nursing CampusBiratnagarMorangKoshi
Mahendra Morang Adarsh Multiple CampusBiratnagarMorangKoshi
Central Campus of Technology DharanSunsariKoshi
Mahendra CampusDharanSunsariKoshi
Purwanchal CampusDharanSunsariKoshi
Terhathum CampusAathraiTerhathum DistrictKoshi
Ramswarup Ramsagar Multiple CampusJanakpurDhanushaMadhesh
Birgunj Nursing CampusBirgunjParsaMadhesh
Thakur Ram Multiple CampusBirgunjParsaMadhesh
Shree Mahendra Bindeshwori CampusBishnupurSaptariMadhesh
S. S. M. Y. Multiple CampusSirahaSirahaMadhesh
Bhaktapur Multiple CampusBhaktapurBhaktapurBagmati
Sanothimi CampusMadhyapur ThimiBhaktapurBagmati
Birendra Multiple CampusBharatpurChitwanBagmati
Chitwan Engineering CampusBharatpurChitwanBagmati
Rampur Agriculture CampusKhairahaniChitwanBagmati
Amrit CampusKathmanduKathmanduBagmati
Bishwo Bhasha CampusKathmanduKathmanduBagmati
Lalitkala CampusKathmanduKathmanduBagmati
Maharajgunj Medical CampusKathmanduKathmanduBagmati
Maharajgunj Nursing CampusKathmanduKathmanduBagmati
Mahendra Ratna CampusKathmanduKathmanduBagmati
Nepal Commerce CampusKathmanduKathmanduBagmati
Nepal Law CampusKathmanduKathmanduBagmati
Padma Kanya Multiple CampusKathmanduKathmanduBagmati
Public Administration CampusKathmanduKathmanduBagmati
Public Youth CampusKathmanduKathmanduBagmati
Ratna Rajya Lakshmi CampusKathmanduKathmanduBagmati
Saraswoti CampusKathmanduKathmanduBagmati
Shanker Dev CampusKathmanduKathmanduBagmati
Thapathali CampusKathmanduKathmanduBagmati
Tri-Chandra Multiple CampusKathmanduKathmanduBagmati
Ayurveda CampusKirtipurKathmanduBagmati
University CampusKirtipurKathmanduBagmati
Patan Multiple CampusLalitpurLalitpurBagmati
Pulchowk CampusLalitpurLalitpurBagmati
Hetauda CampusHetaudaMakwanpurBagmati
Dhawalagiri Multiple CampusBaglungBaglungGandaki
Gorkha CampusGorkhaGorkhaGandaki
Central BharatpurKaskiGandaki
Pashchimanchal CampusPokharaKaskiGandaki
Pokhara CampusPokharaKaskiGandaki
Prithvi Narayan CampusPokharaKaskiGandaki
Lamjung CampusSundarbazarLamjungGandaki
Butwal Multiple CampusButwalRupandehiLumbini
Jumla Multiple CampusChandannathJumlaKarnali
Surkhet CampusBirendranagarSurkhetKarnali
Dadeldhura CampusAmargadhiDadeldhuraSudurpashchim
Doti CampusDipayal SilgadhiDotiSudurpashchim
Siddhanath CampusBhimdattaKanchanpurSudurpashchim