With a rich history that dates back to 1940, Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in western Ukraine. It was originally established as Stanislav Teacher Training Institute and became Stanislav Pedagogical Institute in 1950. In 1971 it was renamed after a famous Ukrainian writer, Vasyl Stefanyk, and in 2004 the institute was granted full university status.
The university is located in Ivano-Frankivsk, formerly Stanyslaviv and Stanislav, a city in western Ukraine. Built in the mid-17th century as a fortress of the polish Potocki family, Stanyslaviv slowly transformed into one of the most prominent cities at the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains. The city was renamed in 1962 in honour of Ivan Franko, a Ukrainian poet, scholar and political activist.
There are 11 faculties within the university: faculty of economics, faculty of foreign languages, faculty of pedagogy, faculty of psychology, faculty of tourism, faculty of philology, faculty of physics and technology, faculty of history, politics and international relations, faculty of natural sciences, and the faculty of physical education and sports. Each faculty is divided into different departments, which offer a wide range of both undergraduate and graduate degree programmes.
There are also four institutes: Institute of Graduate Studies and Pre-University Education, Educational-Scientific Institute of Art, Kolomyya Educational-Scientific Institute, and the Educational-Scientific Institute of Law.
International cooperation is an important part of the university¡¯s activity. The international relations office is responsible for establishing partnerships with various higher education institutes across the globe in order to facilitate academic and scientific exchanges. These institutes include the Ganja State University in Azerbaijan, the University of Valencia in Spain, and the University of Warsaw in Poland.
