Juairia Haque Mahi
Established in 2002 as the first privately-funded liberal arts university in Bangladesh, University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh — located in Dhanmondi, Dhaka — has been serving its purpose to actively incorporate its students into the liberal arts through its structured curricula.
Why should you get into ULAB?
This UGC accredited, research-intensive, liberal arts university, offers you an opportunity to build a strong dexterity at critical thinking, communion, and novel research. Through the curricular and co-curricular activities during your academic session, you’ll grow as a creative problem-solver, and a skilled and gregariously liable person.
In a domain where liberal arts subjects are practised in a modus operandi which augments the practical and analytical skills of the students, students develop to demonstrate their knowledge and skills in feasible contexts.
In short, career opportunities and one’s chances of excelling at professional life increase through consistent skill-development workshops, pedagogic and professional courses, apprenticeship opportunities and research facilities.
Academic Prospects of ULAB
ULAB runs its academic programmes under fours school. These are:
- School of Arts and Humanities
- School of Social Science
- School of Business
- School of Science and Engineering
The school of Arts and Humanities has a department of English and Humanities which offers BA and MA in English.
The school of Social Science has a department of Media Studies and Journalism which offers Bachelor of Social Science, Media Studies and Journalism as its academic programme for undergraduates. This school provides Masters in Communication as well.
The school of Business owns a department of Business Administration which provides BBA, MBA and EMBA (Executive Masters of Business Administration) for undergraduate and graduate students who desire to pursue business degrees.
The school of Science and Engineering has three departments offering BS to undergraduates. These are:
- Computer Science and Engineering
- Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering
- Electric and Electronic Engineering
Credit Hours
Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA): 135
BSS in Media Studies & Journalism (MSJ): 129
BA in English & Humanities (DEH): 129
B.Sc. in Computer Science & Engineering: 140
B.Sc. in Electrical & Electronic Engineering: 140
Last, but not least, ULAB runs a non-degree granting General Education Programme (GED) to execute its necessary liberal arts curriculum through workshops and courses.
Clubs and Other Facilities
If students join clubs and forums and actively participate in them, they are more likely to obtain better professional and practical skills.
That is why ULAB has multiple well-functioning clubs that conduct events and own programmes to serve their motives. Added to that, ULAB is a member of the Duke Edinburgh’s Award programme for its students’ self-improvement and development exercises through its liberal arts courses.
Some of the student clubs at ULAB are mentioned below.
- Electronics Club
- IEEE ULAB Student Branch
- Computer Programming Club
- Social Welfare Club
- Adventure Club
- Art Club
- Business Club
- Debating Club
- Field Sports Club
- Film Club
- Indoor Games Club
- Language Club
- MBA Club
- Media Club
- Shangskriti Shangsad
- Sustainable Development Club
- Theatre ULAB
- Triathlon Club
- CinemaScope
- ULAB TV
- ULABian Student Newspaper
- ULAB Radio CampBuzz
- ULAB Yes Club
- ULAB Nutrition and Wellness Club
In addition, there is an enriched library providing a good deal of books, e-books, journals, and digital resources.
Research facilities
Nine centres are being run to facilitate research programmes, interactive sessions, conferences, and workshops to make students intellectually competent enough to face real-life challenges and foster lifetime learning ardor.
These centres include:
Centre for Bangla Studies (Centre for Bangla language and literature)
Centre for Language Studies
Centre for Enterprise & Society
Centre for Sustainable Development
Dhaka Translation Centre
Centre for Archaeological Studies
Centre for Advanced Theory
Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning
Bengal Lights Literary Journal
Enrollment Requirements at ULAB
Application procedures follow the conventional system of enrollment i.e. form fill-up, photo and transcript submission, application fees online.
Minimum requisites to apply:
A minimum of GPA 2.5 both in SSC and HSC examinations or equivalent
A minimum of GPA of 2.00 in one board exam with a combined GPA 6.00 in SSC and HSC
Or, A minimum of GPA 2.5 in 5 subjects in O-levels, and a minimum of GPA 2.00 in 2 subjects in A-levels
Or, International Baccalaureate or American High School Diploma
*Admission test is waived for candidates who score a minimum of 1100 in SAT (Math + Critical Reading). They only need to face an interview.
The acceptance rate of applicants is 50-60%. Eligible applicants, according to the minimum requirements, will sit for an Admission Test which is divided into two segments.
The first segment of the evaluation is tested on the basis of students’ score in multiple-choice questions.
The MCQs are composed of:
- English language
- Mathematics
- Physics
- Logical reasoning
The second segment is a written test of short essays in English.
Thus, acing the admission test requires a proper grip on English.
Tuition Fees & Financial Aid
Aggregate tuition fees of BBA takes up to Tk 7,54,250; BSS in Media Studies & Journalism (MSJ) takes up to Tk 7,55,000; BA in English & Humanities (DEH) takes up to Tk 6,26,000; B.Sc. in CSE takes up to Tk 7,45,500; and B.Sc. in EEE takes up to Tk 6,75,500.
Undergraduate Scholarship Policy
- 100% tuition scholarship is offered to students who acquire GPA 5.00 in both SSC and HSC without a 4th subject; and those who obtain 5 A’s and 2 A’s respectively in O Levels and A Levels in one sitting.
- 40% tuition scholarship is provided to students with GPA 5.00 both in SSC & HSC, siblings or spouses of the students’, and ULAB employee ward.
- 20% tuition scholarship is provided if the mean GPA of the SSC and HSC result is 4.50-4.99.
- 15% tuition scholarship is provided if the mean GPA of the SSC and HSC result is 4.00-4.49.
- 10% tuition scholarship is provided if the mean GPA of the SSC and HSC result is 3.50-3.99.
- Up to 20% tuition scholarship is offered to students with an English medium school background.
- Up to 10% tuition scholarship is offered to students with English version backgrounds.
- 10% tuition scholarship is offered to BBA students from Science background with a mean acquisition of GPA 3.0 in SSC and HSC results.
- 10% tuition scholarship for female students.
- 40% scholarships are granted to students taking remedial courses in Mathematics (BBA only) and English based on admission test results.
Financial aid is also provided on the basis of semester performance, Dean’s Honour List, Vice-Chancellor’s Honour List, and financial condition. Students from remote areas, efficient sportspeople, artists, performers, and musicians receive financial aid, too.
Students must retain their academic performance to remain eligible for these scholarships.
Job opportunities
Degrees from this liberal arts university open up a wide range of job opportunities for students, such as marketing or advertising jobs, jobs in the media and communication sector, business, entrepreneurship, teaching, civil service, publishing, journalism, government or private jobs, and jobs of translator, interpreter, writer, web and software developer, database administrator, paralegal/legal assistant, archivist/curator, and so on.
Most of these job opportunities are not the stereotypical career options that are cherished openly in a socio-economic scenario focusing only on a couple of job opportunities. If you want to swim against the undulations of trite career choice and utilise your latent faculty to execute your passion for the liberal arts sector, this university is one of the best options to complete your graduation from.
Here’s what an undergraduate student of the English Department at ULAB had to say about their experience.
“I’m getting a BA in English at the moment. I went for the same degree at a different university initially, but ended up switching to ULAB for a bunch of different reasons. The primary one was that the course design at ULAB is really cool, and it includes modern fiction, best-selling fiction and basically, an up-to-date syllabus overall. Secondly, the English department boasts a lot of teachers who are essentially legendary in the Literature teaching circuit, for example, Kaiser Haque sir and Syed Manzoorul Islam sir. Finally, the English department is amazingly active. They almost regularly put out student and faculty journals and also hold seminars, debates and other literary events. My first-hand experience, especially with my intro to Literary Genres class, is that the teachers know how to instill an interest in literature from the get-go by contextualising how both English and Literature can be crucial to our lives, and society as a whole.”
Links for further information
ULAB’s official website link: https://ulab.edu.bd/
For admission related queries, check: https://admissions.ulab.edu.bd/admission-requirements/
For tuition & fees related information, check:
https://admissions.ulab.edu.bd/tuition-fees/
The writer is a part of the TDA Editorial Team.