University of Kinshasa
| Université de Kinshasa | |
 |
|
| Motto | Scientia Splendet et Conscientia Latin: "Science shines and so does conscience" |
|---|---|
| Type | Public |
| Established | 1954 |
| Rector | Ngoma ya Nzuzi Daniel (since 2015) |
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Academic staff
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1,530 |
| Students | 26,186 |
| Location | Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo |
| Colours | Red, Yellow and Blue |
| Website | www.unikin.cd |
The University of Kinshasa (French, Université de Kinshasa), is one of three universities, along with University of Kisangani and University of Lubumbashi, created following the division of the National University of Zaire (UNAZA). It is located in Kinshasa.
The university had an enrollment of 26,186 and a faculty and research staff of 1,530 in the 2006-2007 academic year, and currently has ten academic divisions.
The university is located about 15 kilometers south of central Kinshasa, in the suburb of Lemba.
Many of the campus facilities have deteriorated and are in poor condition, or lack proper instructional tools - in 2003, the science library had as few as 300 titles in its collection. Since 2001, the university has hosted Cisco Academy, a joint project sponsored by the American software company Cisco and the United Nations Development Programme. The academy focuses on providing recent technology, training students to install and operate computer networks and all coursework is online.
The university was established in 1954 as the University of Lovanium by Belgian colonial authorities following criticism that they had done too little to educate the Congolese people. The university was originally affiliated with the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium. When it opened, the university received heavy subsidies from the colonial government and funding from the Ford Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation and the United States Agency for International Development and was lauded as the best university in Africa.
In August 1971, the university was merged with the Protestant Autonomous University of Congo (Université Libre du Congo) and The University of Congo at Lubumbashi (founded in 1956) into the National University of Zaire (Université Nationale du Zaïre, UNAZA). Ties were cut with the Catholic University of Leuven, and funding for the university began to drop precipitously. At this point, the university had an enrollment capacity of just 5,000.
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