Message from the Chair, Board of Trustees

The University of MehrAlborz entered the stage of higher education in March 2002 with the establishment of the Board of Founders, the university’s mission, vision, and goals. In July 2005, after receiving approval from Iran’s Ministry of Science, Research and Technology, the university of MehrAlborz began its operation as the first virtual non-governmental university in Iran.

The University of MehrAlborz was established with the aim of providing university level education opportunities through information technology and in this light seeks to contribute towards society’s professional needs for a sustainable economic development, especially in the field of information communication technology. The designed programs bring diversity to existing educational services, offer higher quality university education, and reduce the cost of education for all –regardless of their location and time zone.
Our educational services are offered through the internet and therefore the University of MehrAlborz can be termed as an online or virtual university. The structural difference between our university and other traditional universities in Iran is not only in the method of offering our services but also in the employment of innovative educational practices. Our educational practices guarantee the training of efficient and creative workforces for the future needs of a knowledge-based economy.
The educational activities of the University of MehrAlborz currently include a two-year graduate degree program in information technology and four other programs have been planned in the near future. In addition to degree programs, the university has short educational courses and research programs.
The educational services sector in Iran needs the flexibility to respond to rapid innovations in learning in order to meet the required capacity of skilled and creative graduates. The emphasis on information technology both in the university’s education and curriculum will enable the University of MehrAlborz to train managers with the necessary skills to compete in regional and international markets.

Dr. Ali Naghi Kharrazi Chair, Board of Trustees

University of Mehr Alborz: Establishment and History

Iran’s 20 year outlook is based on a knowledge based economy supported by information and communication technologies.

In the fourth expansion plan of the country and in anticipation of an increasingly knowledge-based economy, the most important area of investment has been identified as the knowledge and skills of the country’s professional workforce. In this light, the development of educational environments based on innovative technologies is of critical importance.

The University of MehrAlborz (UMA), a private and non-governmental institution, began its operations in 2002 with the aim of training a professional workforce in the fields of ICT management and by taking into consideration the professional needs of knowledge based economy. The difference between a virtual university and a traditional university is in the formers ability to expand rapidly and add to its student population without compromising the quality of its educational services. In other words, a virtual university is not only capable of offering high quality and diverse educational services but additionally it can significantly increase the accessibility of its services to the population with its unique penetration capabilities.

As we enter the era of information, it can be argued that a significant proportion of all new employment opportunities are related to information technologies and it may not be possible to speak of a science or art that has not been evolved by such technologies. Therefore, the central role of ICTs in the University of Mehr Alborz guarantees that graduates of the university will either themselves create new employment opportunities or meet the urgent need of ICT specialists in professional institutions.

Mission statement

The mission of the University of Mehr Alborz is to offer high quality low cost educational services to all Farsi (Persian) speakers worldwide. In this light, the university aims to:

Create a specialized and innovative e-learning brand capable of competing in the educational services sector of Iran and the world.
Domesticate international best practice methods and quality standards in the field of e-learning.
Design advanced individual programs based on the specialized needs of professional executives.
Cooperate with reputable domestic and international institutes of higher education.
Introduce the university as a center that develops innovative technology and provides the highest standards of education in its pedagogy and technical support structures.