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The History of Ã& bo Akademi University The present Ã& bo Akademi University
is a medium-size, state-run, multidisciplinary and Swedish-language university,
celebrating its establishment in 1918. The first Academy in Ã& bo was founded
in 1640. The re-established University was greatly influenced by the model from
the Swedish period and its aim was to strengthen Swedish culture in Finland.
Wish of the main donors In 1918, a group of wealthy persons in Ã& bo and its
surroundings donated funds for the establishment of a Swedish university. It was
to be a multidisciplinary seat of learning and thus its first professors were
humanists, natural scientists and political scientists. The first students were
admitted in January 1919. Professional studies The donors also saw the need for
Swedish-speaking engineers, clergymen and economists. Consequently, within a few
years, education in these fields was also commenced. Development after the
Second World War The post-war economic situation was dire, and the Ã& bo
Akademi University Endowment encountered problems in financing the activities of
the University. The first state subsidy was granted in 1951 and state funding
became permanent in 1963. The University became fully state-run in 1981. New
fields of education In the 1950s, the educational fields in Ã& bo were
supplemented with programmes in pharmacy and psychology. A reform of teacher
education resulted in Ã& bo Akademi establishing a unit in Vasa in 1974. In the
early 1990s, caring science and political science were added to the fields
taught in Vasa and training of Associates in Law was introduced in Ã& bo. The
student body grew tenfold between the years 1952 and 1995, and today it numbers
7,000. |
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