UNIVERSITY BACKGROUND
Gollis University is a higher institution of learning serving entire regions of Somaliland and the
horn of Africa in general. Gollis University operates in a number of Regions of Somaliland
including Hargeisa which hosts the Main Campus, Berbera, Burao, Lasanood, Erigavo and
Garowe. Gollis University Main Campus in Hargeisa was founded in 2004 and a year later
chattered as a University, with two pioneering faculties of Criminal Justice and Civil
Engineering. Currently the programs offered have expanded, covering 30 departments in eleven
faculties at both Graduate and Undergraduate levels.
Gollis University Burao Campus was opened later in the year 2009 and started its full operation
in 2010 after having been fully certified by the Main Campus in Hargeisa and the Ministry of
Higher Education. Gollis University Burao Campus started with Three (3) Pioneering Faculties
of Education, Engineering and Management Science and Information Technology (MSIT).
Over the years Gollis University Burao Campus has grown from strength to strength, expanding
from the pioneering three programs to include: Information Communications Technology,
Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, Sharia and Islamic studies, Social and Behavioral
Sciences, Languages and soon plans to launch the School of Graduate Studies and Research. The
University currently operates in two (2) campuses within Burao Community including The Main
Campus in City Plaza Area which hosts the Faculty of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences and
the Downtown Campus which hosts other Faculties within the institution.
This has come with building capacity systematically and consistently over time in the Human,
Financial and Infrastructural aspects. Gollis University Burao Campus is proud of its first class
facilities which support teaching and learning such as: Physical Library that is soon to be
digitalized, Human and Anatomy Laboratory for Medicine and public health, Computer
Laboratory, the centre for excellence engineering laboratory for both civil and
telecommunications engineering currently situated in Hargeisa Campus.
Gollis University Burao Campus has grown tremendously since its inception. Initially the
university had a total of 114 Graduates in 2013 during its first Graduation Ceremony. But
today, there has been an increase in the number of Graduates and Enrollments at the institution
with an expansion of the number of Faculties and Courses offered by the institution. Its further

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important to note that Gollis University Burao Campus initially started its operations in rental
buildings, but today, the institution has managed to construct a building of its own hosting a
whole faculty and several departments. This is indeed a great achievement having been the first
Private Institution of Higher Learning in Somaliland that has its own buildings.
Gollis University’s growth and expansion has been as a result of reliable funding from various
sources as donations from the Diaspora, international organisations such as World Bank,
European Union, African Development Bank, United Nations Agencies and government grants
on top of students’ tuition fees collections; enabled by a proper financial management system.
Collaboration with internationally reputable institutions within and outside the education
industry, private and public partisanship as part of promoting excellence and international
recognition within the sub-region and outside have been achieved. These include: Dire Dawa
and the Civil service University in Ethiopia, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and
Technology and Kenyatta University in Kenya, Open University of Sudan, Open University of
Malaysia among others across Africa, Asia, Europe, and American continents.