Chulalongkorn University is a public and autonomous
research university in Bangkok, Thailand. The
university was originally founded during King
Chulalongkorn's reign as a school for training royal
pages and civil servants in 1899 (B.E. 2442) at the
Grand Palace of Thailand. It was later established
as a national university in 1917, making it the
oldest institute of higher education in Thailand.
During the reign of Chulalongkorn's son, King
Vajiravudh, the Royal Pages School became the Civil
Service College of King Chulalongkorn. The
Rockefeller Foundation was instrumental in helping
the college form its academic foundation. On 26
March 1917, King Vajiravudh renamed the college
"Chulalongkorn University".
Chulalongkorn University is a comprehensive and
research-intensive university. It is ranked as the
best university in Thailand in many surveys, quality
of students, quality of research, quality in
particular subjects, university reputation,
environmental management systems. According to QS
world university ranking 2017, CU is placed 245th in
the world, 45th in Asia, 1st in Thailand, and
201–250 in the world graduate employability ranking.
It is also ranked as Thailand's No. 1 university
from various organizers such as Center for World
University Rankings, Round university ranking,
Academic Ranking of World Universities.
Chulalongkorn University is one of the National
Research Universities and supported by the Office of
Nation Education Standards and Quality Assessment of
Thailand. Moreover, CU is the only Thai university
which is a member of Association of Pacific Rim
Universities (APRU).
Admission to CU is highly selective, and applicants
are required to have high test scores. Applicants
ranking in the top 10 national scores are chosen for
study at CU.
CU is composed of nineteen faculties, a School of
Agriculture, three colleges, ten institutes and two
other schools. Its campus occupies a vast area in
downtown Bangkok. Graduates customarily receive
their diplomas from the King of Thailand, a
tradition begun by King Prajadhipok (Rama VII).