# University of Burao (Jaamacadda Burco)

> The University of Burao in Burco, Togdheer: founded 2004, its faculties, campus, branches and how it is governed.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/university-of-burao/
Last checked: 2026-11-12
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

## In short

The University of Burao (UB) is an independent, community-based university in Burco (Burao), the main city of Togdheer region in [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burao_University)). It was set up in 2004, and its first students registered in September 2004 (same source).

## How it started and grew

At the start there were 167 students in four colleges, plus 430 primary teachers on a short course to upgrade their skills ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burao_University)). Six classes had graduated by 2016 (same source). In 2016 the university joined the Association of Arab Universities (same source).

It has branches outside Burco in [Sheekh](/en/regions/sheikh/), [Caynabo](/en/regions/caynabo/) (Aynabo) and Oodweyne (same source).

## Who runs it

A board of trustees answers to the Togdheer Development Committee ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burao_University)). A president, accountable to the board, runs the university day to day (same source).

## Campus

The main campus is in the Shacab suburb in north-west Burco, about 2 km from the city centre, on a fenced site of about 3.75 hectares ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burao_University)). It has lecture halls, ICT, science, engineering and veterinary labs, a library, a printing press, a guest house, a sports ground and a mosque (same source).

## Faculties

The university lists these faculties and units ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burao_University)):

- Animal Science and Agriculture
- Education
- Business Administration, Public Management and Economics
- Information and Communication Technology
- Medicine and Health Sciences
- Languages
- Sharia and Law
- Community Development
- Engineering
- School of Rural Development and Somali Studies
- Department of Research, Training and Short Courses

Veterinary students ran a biogas project, and ICT students did web development research (same source).

## Why it opened these faculties, in its own words

The university's case for its faculties, as given on Wikipedia, used these figures ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burao_University)):

- **Livestock:** official 1997 figures put the herd at about 23.5 million head, with only about three dozen qualified vets in the country.
- **Teachers:** the Ministry of Education counted 106,480 school pupils in 2003/04 and 2,590 teachers, of whom only 241 had degrees. That is one teacher per 41 pupils and one graduate teacher per 442.
- **Teacher training:** the only teacher college, Lafoole, had been closed for 13 years because of the civil war.

## Read more

- [Togdheer region](/en/regions/togdheer/)
- [Universities in Somalia](/en/society/universities-in-somalia/)
- [Somali universities one by one](/en/institutions/main-universities/)

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