HISTORICAL

Founded in June 7th, 1934, Maejo University (MJU) is considered Thailand’s oldest agricultural institution. It was first established as the Northern Agricultural Teachers Training School under the Ministry of Education and was later transferred to the Ministry of Agriculture to become the Kasetsart Preparatory School. After a year, it was officially installed as Maejo Agricultural School to serve as a research station of Kasetsart University (KU), a state university in Bangkok. It began to accept M.6 (Grade 12) students who, upon finishing at Maejo, were automatically admitted to KU for a 4-year degree program.

 In 1956, Maejo was renamed Chiang Mai College of Agriculture, making it the first certificate-granting agricultural college under the Ministry of Education. Its graduates became secondary school teachers in agriculture.

 In 1975, Maejo was royally confirmed as a state university under the Ministry of University Affairs but was called the Institute of Agricultural Technology. With this status, however, it began to accept students from vocational schools to its 2-year programs (associate degree) and students from secondary schools to its 4-year degree programs. The aim of this was to give all vocational school graduates greater opportunity to attain higher education in agriculture. The 19th of February is thus celebrated as MJU’s Foundation Day.

 In 1982, the institute’s name was again changed to Maejo Institute of Agricultural Technology upon the request of its alumni. However, due to its rapid development, it was elevated to full and complete university status on November 12th, 1996. It was given the name Maejo University which was immediately approved by the national parliament.

 Under the Ministry of Education, Maejo University is a degree-granting institute that educates students in practical agriculture in order to prepare them for agricultural pursuits. MJU strives to nurture and develop its graduates to become technically competent, scholarly, and culturally mature, thereby enabling them to contribute to the future of the country.

 At present, Maejo University belongs to the Commission on Higher Education of the Ministry of Education.