Background

The University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) is the oldest and premier public university in Tanzania. It is situated 13 kilometres 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 affiliated college of the University of London.

It was temporarily hosted in the premises belonging to Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) located in Lumumba Street, Dar es Salaam from its establishment up to 1964 when it was moved to the current location at the Hill. At its inception, it had only one faculty, the Faculty of Law, with 13 students among them one female, Julie Manning. In 1963, it became a constituent college of the University of East Africa together with Makerere University College in Uganda and Nairobi University College in Kenya. 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 certificates, and 6 diplomas are offered in various academic units.

Vision
“To become a leading Centre of Intellectual Wealth spearheading the Quest for Sustainable and Inclusive Development”

Mission
“The University of Dar es Salaam will advance the economic, social and technological development of Tanzania and beyond through excellent teaching and learning, research and knowledge exchange”