St. Mary's University is an
private
Private or privates may refer to:
Music
* "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation''
* Private (band), a Denmark-based band
* "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...
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 located in the capital
Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...
, Ethiopia. After fifteen years of service as a college first and a university college since 2008, it earned university status from the Ethiopian Ministry of Education in September 2013.
The university has four campuses in Addis Ababa, 13 Distance Education Regional Centers, and 160 Coordination Offices throughout the country. It has 200 full-time academic staff and 1000 employees. It caters to the needs of six thousand undergraduate students, twenty thousand students enrolled in distance education programs, and two thousand students in graduate programs.
Eight graduate programs are run in partnership with
Indira Gandhi National Open University
Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) is a National university, public Open university (concept), open & Distance education, distance learning university located in Delhi, India. Named after the former Prime Minister of India, prime ...
. These programs include Business Administration, Public Administration, Library and Information Science, Sociology, Economics, Commerce, Rural Development and Political Science in the distance mode of learning.
In the conventional mode of learning, St. Mary's is accredited for ten graduate programs: MBA, HRM, Project Management, Accounting and Finance, Marketing management, Development Economics, Computer Science,
Agribusiness
Agribusiness is the industry, enterprises, and the field of study of value chains in agriculture and in the bio-economy,
in which case it is also called bio-business or bio-enterprise.
The primary goal of agribusiness is to maximize profit ...
, Agricultural Economics and Rural Development. The university has a testing center that provides standardized tests, job placement tests, and international tests such as the IBT- TOEFL and GRE.
St. Mary's has opened a K-12 school that is widening its reach in the realms of general education. The United States Embassy in Addis Ababa manages the Col. John C. Robinson American Corner on the university campus, connecting St. Mary's students with international learning opportunities, study abroad programs, English language learning and additional academic resources.
Research
For research, St. Mary's organises conferences and workshops, and publishes research journals, proceedings and bulletins. Among such efforts is the annual international research conference on private higher education and held since 2003.
In 2025, the university hosted the 23rd International Conference on Private Higher Education in Africa, where the Ethiopian minister of Education outlined the government's plans to limit academic dishonesty from artificial intelligence.
Memberships
St. Mary's is a founding member of Ethiopian Private Higher Education Institutions Association, a member of the Association of African Universities, African Quality Assurance Network (AfriQan), and an associate member of the
and International Council for Distance Education.
See also
*
Education in Ethiopia
Education in Ethiopia was dominated by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church for many centuries until secular education was adopted in the early 1900s. Prior to 1974, Ethiopia had an estimated literacy rate below 50% and compared poorly with the rest of ...
*
List of universities and colleges in Ethiopia
This is a list of universities and colleges in Ethiopia. It includes both public and private institutions.
There are 5 private universities and 659 private colleges of higher education in Ethiopia. Public higher education institutions are catego ...
References
External links
Official site 2020
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Mary's University
Universities and colleges in Ethiopia
1998 establishments in Ethiopia
Universities and colleges established in 1998