Hawassa University (HU) is a comprehensive university which was established in 2000 through the merger of three independently operating colleges in the Southern Region. They were Awassa College of Agriculture (ACA), Wondogenet College of Forestry and Natural Resources (WCFNR) and Dilla College of Teacher Education and Health Science (now an autonomous University). Currently, Hawassa University has seven functional campuses out of which ACA campus (College of Agriculture), the CMHS Campus (College of Medicine and Health’s Sciences), Institute of Technology(IoT) Campus and the Main Campus (the seat for the top administration) are located in Hawassa City. The rest three, Wondo Genet Campus (WCFNR), at Wondogenet, Awada Campus (College of Business and Economics, near Yirgalem town and Bensa Daye Campus,(Bensa Daye City), are situated out of Hawassa. Within it seven campuses, HU operates 9 Colleges and 2 Institutes (Institute of Technology, IOT, and Institute of Policy and Development Research, IPDR). The IOT is is situated adjacent to the Main Campus. Currently HU runs 81 Undergraduate degree programs, 108 Masters and 16 PhD programs in its 41 Schools and Departments. HU has recently established three Centers: Center of "Excellence for Teacher Education and Educational Leaders, Academic Center of Excellence in Human Nutrition and STEM Center. The student population as of March 2018 is 48,558 (of which 28.86% are female). HU is one of the well-established universities in the country known for its quality education, multidisciplinary and problem-solving researches and a wide range of community services. Setting teaching-learning, research and community services as its major pillars, HU strives to realize its vision to become the best university at the national level, competent in Africa and internationally renowned by 2025.