| Transnistrian State University / Tiraspol State University | |
| Motto: | Latin: [[Per Ardua ad Astra]] "Through Adversity to the Stars" |
| Established: | 1930 |
| Rector: | Stepan Beril (PSU) Eduard Coropceanu (UST) |
| Students: | 11,000 (PSU) |
| City: | Tiraspol / Chișinău |
| Country: | Moldova |
| Former Names: | Taras Shevchenko State Pedagogical Institute (1933–1992) |
| Website: | spsu.ru (PSU) ust.upsc.md (UST) |
Two universities claim the succession of the Taras Shevchenko State University of Tiraspol; the Transnistrian State University (Russian: Приднестровский государственный университет имени Т. Г. Шевченко|Pridnestrovsky gosudarstvennyy universitet imeni T. G. Shevchenko) located in Tiraspol, Transnistria, and the Tiraspol State University (Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan: Universitatea de Stat din Tiraspol) located in Chișinău, Moldova.
The original university in Tiraspol was founded in 1930 as the State Pedagogical Institute in the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (MASSR), then being a constituent part of the Ukrainian SSR located in modern Transnistria. The institution was renamed in 1939 to honor the Ukrainian poet and painter Taras Shevchenko, on his 125th birthday.
In 1940, after the Soviet occupation of Bessarabia, part of the territory of the MASSR, including the city of Tiraspol, was allocated to the new Moldavian SSR formed by the Soviets.
In July 1992, as a result of the Transnistria War, the university was officially moved to Chișinău, where it continues to function under the name of Tiraspol State University (UST),[1] while in Tiraspol it was reorganized as the Transnistrian State University (PSU). Thus the university was split in two, both claiming to be the original institution founded in 1930.
In Tiraspol, the university consists of 12 buildings. It offers internationally accredited courses in partnerships with universities in Russia. Students can study both internally and in absentia. Not only citizens of Transnistria can study there but also people from abroad. Education can be both free and paid. The university employs over 1,000 teaching staff including 36 Doctors and 220 Masters of Science.[2] [3] Among its publications, the Atlas of Transnistria is often used as a source for data, specialized maps and statistics on Transnistria.
The university has 8 faculties and 84 chairs, offering 54 different majors. Classes are taught mainly in Russian, with only a few programs in Romanian (called "Moldavian in Cyrillic script") and Ukrainian.[4]
There are also four institutes and branches.
In Chișinău, the university has 5 faculties and 7 departments, offering studies in 42 specialties, 17 specializations, and 5 scientific specialties.[5]