Education in Liberia

Liberia

Liberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...

was severely affected by the First Liberian Civil War and Second Liberian Civil War

Second Liberian Civil War

The Second Liberian Civil War began in 1999 when a rebel group backed by the government of neighbouring Guinea, the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy , emerged in northern Liberia. In early 2003, a second rebel group, the Movement for Democracy in Liberia, emerged in the south, and...

, between 1989 and 2003.

Historically, from 1862 to the outbreak of the war in the 1980s, higher education in the country centered around:

• Liberia College, the precursor to the University of Liberia
  University of Liberia
  The University of Liberia is a publicly funded institution of higher learning located in Monrovia, Liberia. Authorized by the national government in 1851, the school opened in 1863 as Liberia College and became a university in 1951. The school is one of the oldest institutions of higher learning...
  
  
• Cuttington Collegiate College, the precursor to Cuttington University College
  Cuttington University
  Cuttington University is a private university in Suacoco, Liberia. Founded in 1889 as Cuttington College by Episcopal Church of the United States , it is the oldest private, coeducational, four-year, degree-granting institution in sub-Saharan Africa.-History:In 1887, Robert Fulton Cutting,...
  
  
• Harper Technical College (founded in 1971), renamed William V. S. Tubman College of Technology in 1978, now known as Tubman University
  Tubman University
  William V. S. Tubman University, commonly known as Tubman University, is a public university located in Harper, Maryland County, Liberia. The university is named after William Tubman, the 19th President of Liberia.Founded in 1978 as the William V. S...
  
  .

Currently higher education

Higher education

Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...

 in Liberia is decentralized. The difference between a centralized and decentralized higher education system might be illustrated by the difference between the decentralized Ivy League

Ivy League

The Ivy League is an athletic conference comprising eight private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The conference name is also commonly used to refer to those eight schools as a group...

 in America and the centralized University of California System.

In addition to the above-named colleges, there also exist:

• African Methodist Episcopal University
  African Methodist Episcopal University
  The African Methodist Episcopal University is a private institution of higher learning located in Monrovia in the West African nation of Liberia. Located on Camp Johnson Road, the school is the second largest college in Liberia with nearly 3,500 students...
  
  
• Don Bosco Technical College
• United Methodist University (UMU)
• Monrovia College
• African Methodist Episcopal Zion University(AMEZU)

These universities are greatly contributing to the higher education needs in Liberia. They have produced students that are working with international organizations such as the UN, international banking institutions, government and other local institutions. Some are pursuing graduate degrees abroad due to limited graduate programs in the country. For example, while there is an undergraduate program in sociology at all of these universities, there is no graduate program for students wanting to pursue a graduate degree in sociology.

The following are disciplines in which undergraduate degrees are being offered: Sociology, geology, political science, history, biology, chemistry, economics. accounting, management, education, journalism, civil engineering, physics, mathematics, English, geography, social work, nursing, architectural engineering, rural development, laboratory technology, theology, general science, and agriculture. Some of these disciplines are only being offered at a single university. For example, Social Work is only being offered as a degree at the United Methodist University (UMU) and Mother Patern College of Health Sciences, which falls under Don Bosco Polytechnic.

The University of Liberia offers graduate degrees in education, regional planning, international relations and public administration, while Cuttington University is offering graduate degrees in education, Public Health, Business administration, Management, Public administration ,and nursing education. The additional colleges do not have no graduate programs.

Liberia has two public Rural Teacher Training Institutes.