The University of Niš () is a public university in Serbia. It was founded in 1965 and consists of 13 faculties with 1,492 academic staff and around 20,500 students (as of 2018–19 school year). Since its founding, the university diploma has been acquired by more than 50,000 students, including 1,300 foreigners. It has a university library "Nikola Tesla"; the Faculty of Technology is located in Leskovac, Pedagogy Faculty in Vranje and Agriculture Faculty in Kruševac. History The University of Niš was incorporated as an independent degree-granting institution on 15 June 1965. In 1960 the first undergraduate programs commenced in Niš under the academic patronage of the University of Belgrade. They were institutionalized as the faculties of Law & Economics, Medicine, and Engineering. The university started its independent life with 234 full-time teaching staff and 6,800 students. Timeline 1968: the Department of Electronics grew into the Faculty of Electronic Engineering; 1970: the two departments of the Faculty of Law and Economics became independent faculties; 1971: the Departments of Mechanical and Civil Engineering became separate, independent faculties. In the same year, the Faculty of Philosophy was established with seven departments: Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Sociology, Psychology, English and Physical Education; 1972: the Faculty of Occupational Safety grew out of the Faculty of Civil Engineering; 1979: the Faculty of Technology was founded; 1987: the Faculty of Philosophy grew to include the Department of Serbian Language and Literature; 1993: the Teacher-Training Faculty in Vranje enrolled its first generation of students; 1995: the Faculty of Civil Engineering expended its academic mission to include a new Department of Architecture which was consequently added to its name; 1998: the academic structure of the Faculty of Philosophy widened to include the Department of History. In the same year the Faculty of Fine Art and the Faculty of Applied Art and Design of the Belgrade University of Art opened their academic divisions in Niš; 1999: the Faculty of Science and Mathematics and the Faculty of Physical Culture grew out of the Faculty of Philosophy; 2000: six new departments began: Geography and Biology with Ecology (adjoined to the Faculty of Science and Mathematics), Philosophy, Pedagogy, Slavic & Balkan Studies and Fine Arts (attached to the Faculty of Philosophy); 2002: the Faculty of Fine Arts was established with three study options — for visual arts, applied arts and music — previously functioning in the Department of Fine Arts of the Faculty of