Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica

Matej Bel University was established on 1 July 1992 following the integration of the former Faculty of Education of the Slovak University of Bratislava and the Faculty of Economics of the Economic University Bratislava.

Banská Bystrica has a long tradition in schooling and culture. In the 13th century there had already existed a parish school, which later became a town school. In the 17th century Jesuit as well as Lutheran grammar schools were founded. Matej Bel, after whom the University is named, studied and later worked as a rector at the Lutheran school.

In the 1850s and 1860s the Catholic grammar school with Slovak as its language of tuition became an important centre of education in Slovakia. In the school year 1856-7, through the good offices of Bishop Štefan Moyses, the first Teacher’s Preparation Study was founded in Banská Bystrica, where the Slovak language was taught together with German and Latin.

In the school year 1949-50 a branch of the Faculty of Education, Slovak University of Bratislava, was established in Banská Bystrica. This was followed in 1954 by the foundation of the Higher School of Pedagogy. On 1 September 1964 the Faculty of Education was founded, and in 1973 a branch of the Faculty of Commerce, Economic University Bratislava, was established; in 1977 this was transformed into the Faculty of Economics of Services and Tourism, and in 1992 it adopted a new name - Faculty of Economics - to better characterise its focus.

Today the University has six faculties: Economics, Humanities, Political Sciences and International Relations, Natural Sciences, Education, and Law.

Matej Bel University implements development of the international relations in accordance with the Declaration of Bologna and supports the international mobility of students and teachers. Partnership takes place in compliance with the valid agreements with various universities, including the University of J E Purkyně, Ústí nad Labem (Czech Republic), the University of Hradec Králové (Czech Republic), the Silesian University, Opava (Czech Republic), the University of Ostrava (Czech Republic), the J A Komenský University, Prague (Czech Republic), the Silesian University, Katowice (Poland), the University of Poitiers (France), Waseda University (Japan), Asia University Junior College (Japan), the University of Miskolc (Hungary), Tessedik Samuel Föiskola (Hungary), the University of Marie Curie-Sklodowska, Lublin (Poland), the University of Opole (Poland), the Technical University, Radom (Poland), Moscow State University of Services (Russia), the University of Novi Sad (Serbia), the State University, St Petersburg (Russia), Belarussian Institute of Law (Belarus), the University of Education, Eger (Hungary), the University of Lodž (Poland), Moscow State University of M V Lomonosov (Russia), the State Islamic University, Jakarta (Indonesia), and the University of National and World Economy, Sofia (Bulgaria).