The roots of the University date back to 1895 when the Franciscantheological school was established. In 1950 Higher teacher-training school started with its work in Mostar. Then follows establishment of higher technical school in 1959, higher agricultural school in 1960, Departments of the Faculties of Law and Economics. The University was established in Mostar in 1977 and faculties and higher schools function further on as its part. From 1992 the Croatian language is the official language at the University of Mostar. The University of Mostar is the only Croatian speaking university in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with around 1,000 employees. There are ten faculties, academy of fine arts, eight institutes and the student center within the University. The University of Mostar participates in Rectors' Conference of Bosnia and Herzegovina and it is also an associate member of the Croatian Rectors' Conference. The university seal shows the building of the Franciscan monastery. During the Bosnian War, at the end of 1992, the University was renamed as Sveučilište u Mostaru, and adopted the Croatian language as official one. As the city became divided on ethnic lines, Bosniak professors left the University, and established a new one with the old name - the University Džemal Bijedić of Mostar. Since the buildings of the original university were situated in western Mostar, under control of the Croats, the new university used those buildings. The University Džemal Bijedić used the old Yugoslav People's Army barracks in eastern Mostar. The University Džemal Bijedić now maintains a campus in eastern Mostar. On 7 and 8 February 2019 University was the host of the Third Rector's Forum of the Southeastern Europe and Western Balkans which followed the first forum in Novi Sad, the second in Zagreb and preceded the fourth one in Podgorica. Representatives of over 30 institutions from the region attended the event.
Organisation and administration
Students
The University of Mostar has around 16,000 students, which makes it the third largest university in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Through years, the University of Mostar saw rapid growth in number of students. In the academic year of 2006–07, it had 6,256 students, while in 2014–15 it had 10,712 students. The number of foreign students, of whom the vast majority are from neighbouring Croatia, is also growing. In the academic year of 2008–09, there were 292 students from Croatia, while in 2012–13 there were 644. In 2014–15, students from Croatia comprised 17% of the total student population.
