General Information

The language of instruction at METU is English.

Middle East Technical University (METU), a state university founded in 1956, currently has about 25,000 students.

Undergraduate and graduate students from many countries attend a semester or a year-round at METU as "Special Student" or "Exchange Student". Middle East Technical University is currently conducting Student Exchange Program activities with many universities around the world.

METU has 41 undergraduate programs within 5 faculties. Additionally, there are 5 Graduate Schools with 105 masters and 70 doctorate programs and a "School of Foreign Languages" which includes the English Preparatory Department. 15 undergraduate programs and 5 graduate programs are offered at METU Northern Cyprus Campus.

The academic year in METU is divided into two semesters. The first term of the academic year generally begins in the last week of September and ends in the middle of January. The second term begins in the middle of February and ends in mid June. METU also has a summer school with regular courses.

Since its foundation, METU, as an international research university, has been the leading university in Türkiye in terms of depth and breadth of research partnership on international level and the amount of funds generated from international research projects. METU actively took part in and managed many Med-Campus, MEDA, COST, Eureka, NASA, NATO, NSF, UN, World Bank, Jean Monnet, INCO, EUMEDIS, 6^th and 7^th Framework, Erasmus Mundus ECW, Leonardo and Socrates projects. METU has also involved in 59 FP6 projects, 48 of them have already been completed. Furthermore, 32 FP7 projects are still in execution. METU has 19 international joint degree programmes with European and American universities at undergraduate and graduate level.

METU hosts over 1,900 international students from 93 different countries studying and conducting their research at various academic programs accross three campuses.

METU, with 490 Erasmus agreements (KA131 & KA171), 120 bilateral exchange and 160 other program agreements in different countries of the whole world, annualy sends approximately 550 students and more than 100 teaching and administrative staff and hosts around 250 students and 50 teaching and administrative staff.

METU has been a member of many associations and networks specializing on international education and exchange such as EUA, EAIE, IIE, GE3, CEASAR, SEFI, CIEE. METU has actively participates in AIESEC and IAESTE summer internship programs.

METU highly values external assessment, accreditation and certification by international organizations, and is committed to a "quality culture". The University has completed the process of "Institutional Evaluation" by the EUA in 2002. As a part of its objective to keep up world-quality education, in 1991 METU initiated a long-term program to have all its engineering programs accredited by the United States Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). The Engineering Faculty now has all its thirteen undergraduate programs accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET (www.abet.org).

METU commited to maintaining a high standard of education by international standards. All undergraduate programs under the Faculty of Engineering were evaluated by ABET, at METU's request.  All undergraduate programs were accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET (www.abet.org).

METU is one of Türkiye's most competitive universities. Each year, among the students taking the National University Entrance Examination, approximately 1/3 of the top 1000 applicants choose METU. Most of our departments accept only the top 2% of more than 2.5 million applicants taking the National University Entrance Examination. Over 30% of METU's students contimue their studies in graduate programs.

The campus area is 4500 hectares and the forest area is 3043 hectares, including Lake Eymir, which is about 20 kilometers from the centrum of Ankara. The lake is available to METU students for rowing, fishing, picnicking and general recreational activities. Bus service is provided from the METU main campus and locations in the city to the lake.

The main part of the campus has dormitory capacity of approximately 7000 students who benefit from a shopping area, banks, post office and many eating places. Also a wide variety of sports facilities, including gymnasiums, tennis courts, basketball and football fields, jogging trails, olympic-size indoor swimming pool, and an outdoor swimming pool are available on METU campus. Among off campus facilities, METU has lodges at Elmadag, 30 kilometers from the METU campus, and a resort at Uludag near Bursa where mountain climbing and various skiing activities are possible.

Throughout the academic year, students can enjoy art exhibitions, concerts, recitals, cinema and theater events as well as a variety of social and academic activities. The Cultural and Convention Center hosts many of these events and many more. One of the most favored social activities is the traditional International Spring Festival held in May.