Founded 1951 as teacher training college, reorganized by decree as university 1953. An autonomous State institution under the responsibility of the Minister of Education. Financially supported by the State.

The Lebanese University is the only official institution in Lebanon that performs the functions of official higher education in its various specialties and degrees, scientific research, preparation and continuous training so that the university achieves its national, humanitarian and developmental role for various sectors and regions through:
Dissemination of knowledge and culture.
Providing scientifically qualified human capabilities ".
Serve the community through studies and continuous training to meet its needs and development.
Scientific presence at the national, regional and global levels.
Deepening social and national integration.
Maintaining human values in the hearts of citizens.

The Université Saint-Joseph, founded and administered by the Compagnie de Jésus, is a Lebanese private university founded in 1875, with Head Office in Beirut. The Lebanese state officially recognizes the university and the diplomas it grants in accord with the law organizing higher education in Lebanon.

USJ is a member of the Association of Arab Universities, the International Association of Universities, the Association of French speaking universities (AUPELF) the International Federation of Catholic Universities, the European Federation of Catholic Universities, the Association of Jesuit Institutions of Higher Learning in Europe and Lebanon and the Euro-Med University (Téthys).

Linked to over one hundred universities — Arab, European, American and Canadian — by accords for cooperation.

Founded in 1866, the American University of Beirut bases its educational philosophy, standards, and practices on the American liberal arts model of higher education. A teaching-centered research university, AUB has around 800 instructional faculty and a student body of around 8,000 students. The University encourages freedom of thought and expression and seeks to graduate men and women committed to creative and critical thinking, life-long learning, personal integrity, civic responsibility, and leadership.

The University, which was granted institutional accreditation in June 2004 by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools in the United States and reaffirmed in June 2009, includes six faculties: Agricultural and Food Sciences, Arts and Sciences, Engineering and Architecture, Health Sciences, Medicine (which includes the Rafic Hariri School of Nursing), and the Suliman S. Olayan School of Business.

AUB currently offers more than 120 programs leading to the bachelor’s, master’s, MD, and PhD degrees. The University became coeducational in 1922; its student body is 50 percent male and 50 percent female. The language of instruction is English (except for courses in the Arabic Department and other language courses).
The student faculty ratio is 11.2 to 1.

Mission Statement

​​​​The American University of Beirut (AUB) is an institution of higher learning founded to provide excellence in education, to participate in the advancement of knowledge through research, and to serve the peoples of the Middle East and beyond. Chartered in New York State in 1863, the university bases its educational philosophy, standards, and practices on the American liberal ​arts model of higher education. The university believes deeply in and encourages freedom of thought and expression and seeks to foster tolerance and respect for diversity and dialogue. Graduates will be individuals committed to creative and critical thinking, life-long learning, personal integrity, civic responsibility, and leadership.