University of Guilan was founded in 1968 under the name of "Rasht School for Business". In 1977 council for higher education approved the school to continue its educational activities as University of Guilan in the framework of an agreement between Iran and former West Germany with the admission of 155 students in 9 fields of study. Currently, the University includes eight schools, over 450 staff and about 17000 students. Its research activities also expanded to an intentional campus and two field-oriented institutes.