Mahasarakham University (MSU) (; ), pronounced: má-hăa wít-tá-yaa-lai má-hăa-săa-rá-kaam) is a Thai public university in Maha Sarakham province, about 470 kilometres from Bangkok. In 2017 it enrolled 41,000 students. MSU is the only Thai university to offer postgraduate programs in paleontology and a Bachelor of Arts in the Khmer language. It was the first Isan university to offer a BA accounting and the second to offer PhD courses in the same subject. Its Faculty of Education, the flagship of MSU, was voted Thailand's Best Education Faculty in 2010 by the National Education Office. The university is the first Thai higher education institution rated under the QS Stars System for excellence in higher education. It has become one of the top 20 universities in Thailand based on the Webometrics Ranking of World Universities. History The development of Mahasarakham University can be traced back to 1963, when it was known as "Mahasarakham Teacher's Training College". On 27 March 1968, it was established as Mahasarakham College of Education for strengthening and expanding higher education in the Northeastern region (Isan) of the nation. Located in the outer north area of Maha Sarakham province, a small town right at the center of the region, the college has been responsible for developing quality educators to serve educational institutions of all levels. In 1974, the college's status was elevated when it became a regional campus of Srinakharinwirot University. At that time, there were four academic faculties: education, humanities, social sciences, and science. In 1994, the college gained its statutory status through the Thai Higher Education Act and became Mahasarakham University, the 22nd public university of Thailand Mahasarakham University has since expanded rapidly in academic infrastructure, facilities, and relevant services. It became a comprehensive university, offering undergraduate and graduate degree programs in three academic clusters: social sciences; pure and applied sciences; and health sciences. In 1988, the Kham Riang Campus, known as the New Campus, was established, approximately seven kilometres from the Old Campus. With 17 faculties and two colleges, the university has been recognized as one of Thailand's fastest growing. The total student enrolment has increased from thousands in its earlier years to about 40,000 students in 2016. To extend its academic services to remote communities, MSU has had 15 academic service centers in the northeastern region, later reorganized into two centres in Nakhon Ratchasima province and Udon Thani province. As a regional education center, Maha Sarakham