Unity College

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For the Unity College in Maine, see: http://www.unity.edu

Unity University College is an Ethiopian institution of higher education. Its main campus is located in the capital Addis Ababa, while having a branch campus in Nazareth about 90 Km southeast of the capital. Unity University College, founded by Dr. Fisseha Eshetu in 1991, started out as a language school offering courses in English, Arabic and French under the name of Unity Language School. Later the same year, the school started offering preparatory lessons for the Ethiopian School Leaving Certificate Examination (ESLCE). In 1994, the school started offering a certificate program in basic law which was subsequently upgraded to a diploma program. The school soon started offering courses in business administration, food, and beverage services and was renamed to "Unity Law, Language and Vocational Institute".

From 1997 to 1999, the college extended its offered courses to include diploma programs in accounting, marketing, business, personnel administration and secretarial science. In 1998 the institute was upgraded to a college and renamed again to Unity College. In the process it became the first privately owned college in Ethiopia. A flurry of enrollments to the college prompted other colleges to spring up in the country.

During the next few years the college strengthened the existing programs while expanding the list of programs to be offered including, for the first time, several degree programs. In August 2002, the college was renamed for a third time -- this time to Unity University College. As of 2001, the college had about 12,000 regular and extension students, 700 of whom receive scholarships; by 2001 it had granted degrees, diplomas or certificates to 3,788 people.