About Dire Dawa University

Dire Dawa University is found in the industrial and commercial city of Dire Dawa, located 515 km east of Addis Ababa. It is a young higher education institution established and started its teaching and learning activities in the 2007 academic year. The university was founded through the Ethiopian government’s determination to expand higher education coverage and ensure equitable distribution across the country in order to produce competent human resources and research outputs that support national development and poverty reduction strategies.

The actual operation of the university began by enrolling 754 regular students in three faculties: Faculty of Natural Science and Mathematics, Faculty of Social Science and Language, and Faculty of Business and Economics. These students joined 13 undergraduate academic programs supported by 90 academic staff and 103 administrative staff, operating with limited facilities. In 2008, the satellite campus of Haramaya University was merged with Dire Dawa University, creating an opportunity to gain more buildings and workshops.

Currently, the university has one Institute (Institute of Technology) and five Colleges: College of Natural & Computational Science, College of Business & Economics, College of Social Sciences & Humanities, College of Law, and College of Medicine and Health Science. It offers 47 undergraduate and 46 graduate programs. Enrollment has reached more than 21,159 students through regular and non-regular admission modalities.

The Institute of Technology is one of the ten institutes established in Ethiopia to support the national transition toward an industry-led economy. The university has contributed to the former national 70:30 policy mix, prioritizing Engineering & Natural Sciences over Social Sciences.

Dire Dawa University has 1,296 academic staff in total, of which 794 are on duty and 21 are expatriates, while 502 are on study leave pursuing second and third degrees. Among those on duty, 27% are first-degree holders, 66% are second-degree holders, and 5% hold PhD degrees or above. In addition, the university has 1,670 administrative staff and 107 technical and ICT staff.