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| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Established | 1968 |
| Chancellor | Taneti Maamau |
| Vice-Chancellor | Pal Ahluwalia |
| Location | , Fiji (main campus) |
| Website | www |
The University of the South Pacific (USP) is an intergovernmental organisation and public research university with locations spread throughout a dozen countries in Oceania. It is an international centre for teaching and research on Pacific culture and environment. USP's academic programmes are recognised worldwide, attracting students and staff from throughout the Pacific region and internationally.
The British colonial link and the establishment of the University of the South Pacific in 1968 allowed the education system to follow suit from the qualification system of the Commonwealth of Nations.
USP is owned by the governments of 12 Pacific island countries: the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
Despite its multi-campus nature, the USP is not a university system. It is a single university with several branches across the Pacific Region. USP's Laucala campus in Fiji is the main campus of the University also serving as its administrative centre.
Courses and programmes
USP offers undergraduate and postgraduate study programmes including:
- Teaching
- Tourism
- Journalism
- Literature
- Linguistics
- Agriculture
- Science and Environmental Management
- Geospatial Science
- Technology
- Computing and Information Systems
- Accounting and Economics
- Law and Politics
- Banking and Finance
- Public Administration and Management
- Land Management
- Counselling and Social Services
Campuses
USP's main campus, called Laucala, is in Fiji. It also has two other satellite campuses in Fiji: Labasa and Lautoka. The Alafua campus in Samoa hosts the School of Agriculture and Food Technology. The Emalus campus in Vanuatu is the location for the School of Law.
In addition, USP operates 11 regional centres based in Pacific islands countries. The region served by USP covers 33 million km2 of the Pacific ocean, an area more than three times the size of Europe. In contrast, the total land mass of territories served corresponds to the area of Denmark. Populations of member countries vary from Tokelau with 1,500 people to Fiji with more than 900,000 people. (The population of the region is about 1.3 million.)
The following are the special educational centers of the University aside from its campuses in Fiji, Samoa, and Vanuatu.
| Centers | Town | Country |
|---|---|---|
| USP Cook Islands | Rarotonga |  Cook Islands
|
| USP Kiribati | Teaoraereke |  Kiribati
|
| USP Marshall Islands | Majuro |  Marshall Islands
|
| USP Nauru | — |  Nauru
|
| USP Niue | Alofi |  Niue
|
| USP Solomon Islands | Honiara |  Solomon Islands
|
| USP Tokelau | Atafu |  Tokelau
|
| USP Tonga | Nuku'alofa |  Tonga
|
| USP Tuvalu | Funafuti |  Tuvalu
|
External links
| Wikimedia Commons has media related to University of the South Pacific. |