Cheikh Anta Diop University predates Senegalese independence and grew out of several French institutions set up by the colonial administration. In 1918, the French created the『école africaine de médecine』(African medical school), mostly to serve white and Métis students but also open to the small educated elite of the four free towns of Senegal with nominal French citizenship. In 1936, under the Popular Front government in France, Dakar became home to the Institut Fondamental d'Afrique Noire (IFAN), an institute for the study of African culture.
In 1950s, with decolonisation already looming, the French administration expanded these schools, added science faculties, and combined the schools into the "Institut des Hautes Etudes de Dakar". In 1957, a new campus was constructed as the 18th French Public University, attached to the University of Paris and the University of Bordeaux. This became the University of Dakar the largest and most prestigious university in French West Africa. In 1987, its name was changed to honor the Senegalese philosopher and anthropologist, Cheikh Anta Diop.
At independence in 1960, enrollment was 1,018 students, only 39% Senegalese, with most of the rest from other former French colonies. By 1976, this number grew to 8,014.
In the 1970s, a time of state financial crisis, funding to higher education was cut, and international agencies stepped in over the next decade. Most of this funding, though, went to meet the needs of primary schools. In the 1990s and 2000s there was a huge boom in Senegalese primary and secondary education, much of it funded through international projects. In 1984 around 50% of Senegalese children received primary education and by 2004 more than 90% did.
In the mid-1980s around 20% of World Bank funding to Senegalese education went to higher education, but this figure dropped to 7% by the mid-1990s. With these projects came severe World Bank restrictions, dramatically cutting domestic funding available to university programs. As students who have benefited from primary and secondary education age, Cheikh Anta Diop University has had its already stretched resources stretched further. Nine thousand Senegalese students received a Baccalaureate degree in 2000, while total registration shot above 40,000, for a campus built with only 5,000 dorm rooms.[3][4]
Despite these pressures Cheikh Anta Diop University maintains a reputation as one of Africa's most prestigious institutions. Most of the post-independence generation of Senegalese leaders are graduates of the university, and its alumni teach in universities around the world.
The education system follows the French pattern, with oral and/or written final exams administered at the end of the year. All courses at the university are taught in French, except those in language departments other than French.
UCAD offers courses of study in Humanities, Sciences, Engineering, Medicine, Finance, Accounting, and Law. The university awards the following degrees: B.A., B.S., Ph.D., and D.M.A.
The School of Medicine includes departments of Pharmacy, Research, and Surgery.[5] The university also encompasses the Institute of Sciences of the Environment (ISE) and the Institute of Sciences of Earth (ISE).
Language studies are divided into the following disciplines: Philosophy, Sociology, History, Geography, Letters, Arabic, Russian, Languages and Civilizations, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Latin, German and Linguistics.
The university oversees a language school: Institut de Français pour Etrangers (IFE). The IFE specializes in French language studies aimed at foreign students in preparation for regular courses taught in French.
UCAD hosts a number of foreign study abroad programs, including ones administered by Wells College, Indiana University, and the University of Oregon in the United States and numerous European universities. Participants in the program typically take a required course in Introductory Wolof and a French language (if applicable) course through the IFE in addition to regular university courses taught in French.[6]
A division of the university offers courses for foreign students in Senegalese and African studies, including African literature, history, politics, philosophy, and sociology.
Cheikh Anta Diop University library building, showing additions, 2005.
For foreign students, UCAD requires a minimum age of 18 to enroll in studies in Pharmacy and a minimum age of 22 to enroll in studies relating to oral surgery.
As with a number of other African universities, UCAD occasionally experiences student strikes protesting government or university policies, most notable of which occurred during the 1993 presidential election.
With over 60,000 students and only 5,000 dormitory rooms, most students from outside Dakar must look for other accommodations. Many students live in the Cité Aline Sitoe Diatta, near the university campus, and those who can't afford Dakar's often high rents often share rooms.[7][8]
The university has had a number of notable incidents of violence. A Senegalese LGBT organization noted in 2016 that ten cases of homophobic mob violence had occurred at the university since 2012.[9] One of these, following a riot at the university, resulted in the death of the student who was suspected to be gay. The riot followed an attempt to apprehend the student, who had sought refuge in the university's bank and security office.[10] Separately, self-immolations and clashes between students and police have been reported after students unsuccessfully demanded scholarships or challenged grading schemes.
Salif Diallo, Master of Law, Burkinabé political leader.
Cheick Sidi Diarra, United Nations Special Adviser on Africa and High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (OSAA/OHRLLS).
Ousmane Tanor Dieng:, International Relations, Law; first Secretary of the Socialist Party of Senegal, vice-president of the Socialist International.
^Wells Program. (2005). Dakar Program for foreigners. Retrieved April 10, 2005, from "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2006-06-18. Retrieved 2006-04-28.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
Kone, Pierrette Women in the university hierarchy at the Cheikh Anta Diop University Women in higher education in Africa; Publ: 1995; p. 140-148.
Niang, Souleymane African universities and globalisation Les Universités africaines et la mondialisation Higher education in Africa: achievements, challenges and prospects; Publ: 1998; p. 31-40.
