The State University of Tirana was founded on May 30, 1957. 

The University of Tirana is a public university. It is the largest university with the best reputation in Albania.Established in 1957, it is the first university in Albania. The creation of the university came as a result of the merger of institutes such as: the Pedagogical Institute, the Polytechnic Institute, the Higher Institute of Economics and the Higher Institute of Medicine forming the State University of Tirana.

Initially formed by ten faculties, this University was split in 1991 when the engineering faculties were grouped into the Polytechnic University, leaving the University of Tirana with seven faculties covering humanities, economics and natural sciences.

UT is the largest and highest university in Albania. It includes 6 faculties, 50 academic departments, and 41 study programs. Most of the programs are offered in Tirana, several smaller affiliated campuses are located in other cities of Albania, including Saranda in the south and Kukës in the north. UT offers a three-year diploma, a one- or two-year Master’s and 3-5 year doctoral programs, in accordance with the Bologna system. More than 14,000 students attend UT. UT employs more than 600 faculty members.

Today, the University of Tirana is the largest public university in the country. It is the first choice for high school graduates. It consists of 6 faculties after the departure in January 2012 of the Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Technical Medical Sciences (former Faculty of Nursing). About 40,000 students study in the University of Tirana in the three study cycles in the full-time and part-time system.

One of the goals of the University of Tirana has been its international recognition. This dream is already a reality with its involvement as a partner institution in several cooperation programs of the European Commission such as Tempus, Erasmus Mundus Action 2, IPA, specifically: JoinEU-SEE, Basileus, Pacinno, Eureqa, Tempus Interface. All UT structures, students, academic and administrative staff have benefited from the JoinEU-SEE and Basileus mobility projects.

An innovation of the University of Tirana has been the establishment of Career Centers in all UT faculties. These centers serve as a bridge between students and the labor market, creating the right contacts with potential employers, in order to promote the students of the University of Tirana and search for new employment opportunities.

UT has also signed many cooperation agreements with various European and world universities and institutions. These framework agreements aim at academic and student exchange, joint research programs, academic exchanges in publications, journals, the organization of various conferences, etc. It is also a member of many foreign networks such as: UNICA, UNIMED, CMU etc..

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