University of Dar es Salaam

The University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) is the oldest and premier public university in Tanzania. It is situated 13 kilometers on the western side of the city of Dar es Salaam, occupying 1,625 acres on the observation hill, famously known as Mlimani in Kiswahili. It was established on 25th October 1961 as the University College Dar es Salaam (UCD), an affiliate college of the University of London. UDSM became a full-fledged university on 1st July 1970 through Act No. 12 of 1970.

Ever since UDSM has grown in terms of student intake, academic units, research capability and academic programmes. It has two constituent colleges: the Dar es Salaam University College of Education located in Dar es Salaam and the Mkwawa University College of Education, located in Iringa. There are also seven campus colleges, four schools and five institutes hosting numerous academic departments covering a wide range of programmes, making it a comprehensive university. The academic programmes offered lead to the award of certificates, diplomas, and undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. A total of 370 programmes including 17 taught PhD; 99 PhD by thesis; 142 Masters; 10 Postgraduate; 92 undergraduate; 5 certificate, and 6 diploma are offered in various academic units. They include evening study programmes designed to offer opportunities mainly to employed people, although any other interested person with requisite entry qualifications can apply. The number of students admitted has been increasing steadily, reaching 39,958 in 2020/2021 academic year. Female students constitute 46 percent of all students and more efforts have been underway to increase this ratio. Each year we receive an increased number of applications of students interesting in joining our various programmes than the available current capacity.