University of Glamorgan - History

History

The University of Glamorgan was founded in 1913 as a School of Mines based in Trefforest, Pontypridd, serving the large coal mining industry in the South Wales Valleys. The school was owned and funded by the major Welsh coal owners, through a levy of one tenth of a penny on each ton of coal produced by the companies involved. At the outset, the school had 17 mining diploma students, including three from China. The school was taken over by Glamorgan County Council during the Depression, and became Glamorgan Technical College in 1949, reflecting its expanding portfolio, and the Glamorgan College of Technology in 1958. By this time, the institution had expanded to offer a range of full-time, sandwich and part-time courses in science, technology and commerce, to which it added the first ever "Welsh for Adults" course in 1967. In 1970, the college became a polytechnic. Glamorgan Polytechnic merged with the Glamorgan College of Education in Barry and was re-designated as the Polytechnic of Wales in 1975, before being awarded university status as the University of Glamorgan in 1992.

Since 2003, the University has been engaged in an active "growth strategy", merging with Merthyr Tydfil College in 2004/5 and forming a "strategic alliance" with the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in 2006, so that the Royal College is now part of the 'Glamorgan Group' of institutions. In 2007, "ATRiuM", a new facility for teaching and research in media, design and the arts was opened in Cardiff city centre. A new Students' Union building at the Treforest Campus was opened in September 2010.

The University currently serves around 21,500 students, with 10,227 registered as full-time undergraduates. The university currently offers around 200 courses and in 2009 claimed to have one of the highest graduate employment rates in Wales, reporting that 94.3 per cent of 2007-08 graduates found employment within six months of graduation.