The 12,650-student enrollment is served by an academic staff of 2,000 and a support staff of 540, distributed over its 13
faculties, 24
institutes and schools, across five
campuses in Beirut, with regional university centers in
Sidon,
Tripoli, and
Zahlé, as well as one foreign center, the
USJ-Dubai, located in
Dubai,
UAE. The student body represents 45
countries.[13]
In 1839, French Jesuit missionaries came to Beirut and established a modest French catholic school.[15] Later, in 1855, the Jesuits missionaries founded a bigger
seminary-college in
Ghazir. The seminary moved to Beirut in 1875, where it merged with the first school established earlier in 1839. Public authorities quickly graced the new school with the title of "university," which allowed it to grant
academic degrees, with a focus on
doctoral degrees in
philosophy and
theology. In his audience of 25 February 1881,
Pope Leo XIII bestowed the title of
pontifical university on USJ.[3]
The creation of faculties and institutes gradually followed the establishment of the university. For instance, the Institute of
Medicine founded in 1883, became the French Faculty of Medicine in 1888, and later the French Faculty of Medicine and
Pharmacy in 1889. Today, the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy has a reputation for excellence in education and research in the region.[8] A maternity clinic opened in 1896, followed by the Oriental College in 1902. The university has since been noted for establishing a continuous
French presence in the
eastern Mediterranean.[16]
The School for
French Law was established in 1913 under the patronage of the
University of Lyon.[17] The Institute for Political Sciences was first established in 1920 and is now known as "
SciencesPo Beyrouth."[18] They both evolved into the Faculty of Law and
Political Science of Saint Joseph University in 1946. Today, the Faculty of Law continues to offer a rigorous and comprehensive approach to legal education, covering both French and Lebanese law in their entirety.[19] Students have the opportunity to study these legal systems side by side, exploring the similarities and differences between them. Most of the major law classes are taught in French. The Faculty of Law enjoys a strong reputation in
corporate law,
family law,
private international law,[20] as well as in other areas of
international law. Current faculty members have contributed to the development of the law in France, Lebanon, the
Gulf countries, and other regions of the world.[18] The Institute of Political Science offers the
Arab Master's in Democracy and Human Rights, widely regarded as the most prestigious program of its kind in the Arab world.[21]
The French School of Engineering also founded in 1913 became the Higher School for Engineering of Beirut (French: École Supérieure d'Ingénieurs de Beyrouth (ESIB)) in 1948.[22] For many years, USJ held a
monopolistic position in engineering education in Lebanon and the
Levant, training the first generations of engineers in the region.[23]
The saying goes that "[i]t is Saint Joseph University of Beirut that has healed, legislated, and built Lebanon." (French: "C’est l’USJ qui a soigné, légiféré, et construit le Liban.")[8] The university ranks very high for the quality of its publications.[26]
Academics
Saint Joseph University of Beirut has been consistently ranked as the second-best[27] university in Lebanon, and it has a historical rivalry with the top English-speaking university, the
American University of Beirut (AUB).[2] It has also established itself as the foremost French university in the nation and ranks among the most prestigious academic institutions in the Middle East.[5][6][7][28]
The University has 13 faculties, 24 institutes and schools, spread out across five campuses in the city of Beirut, as well as regional centers in three other major cities of Lebanon, and a foreign center in Dubai. It is structured as follows:[29]
Faculty of Medicine (French: Faculté de médecine (FM)) which was founded in 1883. It operates a large university hospital, the Hotêl-Dieu de France, and includes:
The School of
Midwifery (French: École de sage-femmes (ESF)) founded in 1922
The Institute of
Physical Therapy (French: Institut de physiothérapie (IPHY)) founded in 1956
The Institute of
Psychomotor Therapy (French: Institut de psychomotricité (IPM)) founded in 1999
The Higher Institute of
Speech and Language Therapy (French: Institut supérieur d'orthophonie (ISO)) founded in 1966
The Institute of
Occupational Therapy (French: Institut d'ergothérapie (IET)) founded in 2016
The Higher Institute of
Public Health (French: Institut supérieur de santé publique (ISSP)) founded in 2016
Faculty of Pharmacy (French: Faculté de Pharmacie (FP)) founded in 1889 and which includes:
The School of
Medical Laboratory Scientists (French: École de techniciens de laboratoires d'analyses médicales (ETLAM)) founded in 1946
The Institute of Oriental Letters (French: Institut de lettres orientales (ILO)) founded in 1936 and focused mainly on
Arabic literature,
islamic philosophy,
islamic studies, and education in Arab countries
The Lebanese School of
Social Work (French: École Libanaise de Formation Sociale (ELFS)) founded in 1948
The Institute of
Theatre,
Audiovisual, and
Cinema Studies (French: Institut d'Études Scéniques, audiovisuelles, et cinématographiques (IESAV)) founded in 1988
Faculty of
Languages and
Translation (French: Faculté des langues et de traduction (FdLT)) founded in 1980 and which includes:
The School of Translators and
Interpreters of Beirut (French: École de traducteurs et d'interprètes de Beyrouth (ETIB))
The Center for
Modern Languages (French: Centre des Langues Vivantes (CLV))
Faculty of
Education Sciences (French: Faculté des sciences de l'éducation (FSédu)) which includes:
The Lebanese Institute for
Educators (French: Institut libanais d'éducateurs(ILE))
Faculty of Religious Sciences (French: Faculté des sciences religieuses (FSR)) with a long and rich history going all the way back to 1875. It includes:
The Higher Institute of Religious Sciences (French: Institut supérieur de sciences religieuses (ISSR)) established in 1980
Institute of
Islamo-Christian Studies (French: Institut d'études islamo-chrétiennes (IEIC)) founded in 1977
Law, Political Science
Faculty of Law and Political Science (French: Faculté de droit et des sciences politiques (FDSP)) founded in 1913 and reorganized in 1946. It includes:
The Institute of Political Science (known as "SciencesPo Beyrouth") (French: Institut des Sciences Politiques (ISP)) founded in 1920
The Center for Legal Studies in the Arab World (French: Centre d'études des droits du monde arabe (CEDROMA)). CEDROMA was founded in 1997 following a partnership agreement between the University and the
French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs. Its purpose is to promote a better understanding of the laws of Arab countries through a comparative law approach, particularly in relation to French law
University for All (French: Université Pour Tous (UPT)). UPT provides advanced-level courses that are accessible to everyone in Lebanon, without any requirements or registration, and do not confer academic degrees.
USJ has more than 275 partnerships with foreign universities, most notably with
Georgetown University in
Washington, D.C. It also has more than 200 professors on missions abroad and a large administrative office in
Paris, France.
The university belongs to the following associations which directly link it to over a 100 American, Arab, Canadian, and European universities:
This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's
verifiability policy. Please
improve this article by removing names that do not have independent
reliable sources showing they merit inclusion in this article AND are alumni, or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate
citations.(March 2015)
^Nabil Sukkar (2017). "Forging Research Links Between Academia, Business and Industry in Syria and Lebanon". In Gómez, Aboujaoude; Feghali, Mahmoud (eds.). Modernizing Academic Teaching and Research in Business and Economics. Springer. p. 185.