Ljubljana University

Reformation - the period when the Slovenians got their first book - is the beginning of schooling in the Slovenian language. The first two Slovenian secondary schools were established in Klagenfurt in 1553 and in Ljubljana in 1563. When the Jesuits came in Ljubljana in the first half of the 17th century, higher education was introduced.

In these context we can also include the Academia Operosorum, an association of important cultural workers, theologians, doctors and lawyers. They were also striving for a real university in Ljubljana, encompassing a complete theological and philosophical faculty. Unfortunately, this idea was not brought to fruition though it represents the first attempts to found the University of Ljubljana

In 1773 the dissolution of the Jesuit order took place. That meant that the philosophical and theological faculties in Ljubljana came under Austrian control. This system was maintained until 1848. It was only interrupted by the educational system of Napoleon's Illyrian Provinces for a few years. Year 1848 revived the calls for the establishment of a Slovenian University. The only achievement in those years was permission to lecture on criminal and civil law in Slovenian.

At the end of 1860's the national consciousness was again awakened by the Tabor movement. Again, but without any results, stronger demands for a Slovenian University of Ljubljana emerged. The movement for Ljubljana University again intensified at the turn of the century and the demands were mainly expressed at meetings of university students and academics in Graz, Vienna and Prague. At the beginning of the 20th. century the demands for a university in Ljubljana led to the creation of the first institutional organisation. In July 1919 the national consciousness and a longstanding desire for the affirmation of the Slovenian language were fulfilled with the establishment of the University of Ljubljana.

The law on establishment envisaged five Faculties: Law, Arts, Technical, Theology and Medicine. In its first five years, the University opened some new departments: at the Faculty of Arts were opened 14 new departments; at the Technical faculty were opened 5 new departments. Up to the Second World War, there were no major changes in subjects. At the Faculty of Arts, departments of Comparative Literature and Ethnology were introduced; the Technical Faculty opened the Metallurgy Department.

After the Second World War, university education started developing more intensively. Institutions and organizations expanded (new faculties and departments were founded) and the presence of university institutions in the urban area grew significantly.

The faculties, academies of art, university schools and colleges of higher education, which together make up the University of Ljubljana, today cover all basic fields of study. In undergraduate courses, which are successfully completed by an average of one in three students, the University of Ljubljana offers a wide variety of possibilities, as it does at the postgraduated level (specialisation programmes, master`s degrees and doctorates). Approximately 27,000 students, including foreign students, attend the University. The professional services gathered in the administrative office remain abreast of and hope to improve the development of students studies and the conditions for study. Of these services, the largest are the University Development Centre and the University Computer Centre.

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