Turkish higher education reached a turning point when private foundations obtained the right to establish and develop universities. With this decision, universities began to engage in the processes of achieving this goal through both constructive competition and collaboration to improve post-secondary school education. With the decision of its Administrative Council in July 1994, the Sabanci Group decided to establish a university and assigned this task to Sabanci Foundation. The intention was to set up a university that would represent a model in higher education in the world, that is, to create a “world university”. The groundbreaking ceremony for the Sabanci University campus took place on July 31, 1997. The University began its first academic year on October 20, 1999. On a campus grounds of more than 1,353,000 m2, academic activities operate within the framework of three faculties: Engineering and Natural Sciences (FENS), Arts and Social Sciences (FASS), and Management (FMAN). The undergraduate degree programs are established around a blend of disciplines that leverage new, scientific and technological developments so as to equip students with a wide diversity of critical and analytic approaches and skills needed to deal with the increasingly complex, interactive, and fast-flowing environment of today’s world. Graduate programs, on the other hand, are designed to prepare students for career-specific fields and/or research. In October 1998, upon implementation of its overall structure, Sabancı University applied for membership in the European Foundation for Quality Management. It is the first university in Turkey that applied and was accepted for membership.

Sabancı Üniversitesi Ekim 1998’de, genel yapısının ortaya çıkmasının ardından Avrupa Kalite Yönetimi Vakfı’na (EFQM) üye olmak üzere başvurmuştur. Üniversitemiz, Türkiye’den EFQM’e başvuran ve üyeliğe kabul edilen ilk üniversitedir.

For further information : sabanciuniv.edu/tr