Klaipėda University

The university was established in January 1991 from the branches of the largest universities in the Lithuanian SSR, which had previously operated in the city of Klaipėda.

The first intake consisted of 1,800 students across three faculties: Natural Sciences and Humanities, Maritime Studies, and Education. In 2014, the university had 5,300 students and 630 staff members (2013); it offers bachelor’s degrees in 37 disciplines, specialist degrees in 3 disciplines, master’s degrees in 37 disciplines, and doctoral degrees in 11 disciplines. Instruction is primarily conducted in Lithuanian.

In 1995, a student union was established at the university. In 2010, a master’s program in European Studies was launched, with courses taught in English. Since 2015, the university has been accepting students into its bachelor’s program in Public Administration, with instruction available in both Russian and English. The university encourages student mobility, so it has signed Erasmus+ cooperation agreements with universities in the following countries: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, the United Kingdom, Estonia, Spain, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Poland, Malta, Norway, the Netherlands, Portugal, France, Romania, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden, Turkey, and Germany. Approximately 80 international students study at the university each year.

About 120 university students go abroad each year to study or complete an internship for one or two semesters. The university has gained worldwide fame thanks to the “Zhuvedra” (Seagull) dance troupe, which has repeatedly won first place at the World and European Latin Dance Championships.