Charles University

Charles University offers a wide range of opportunities for students and staff to pursue their pastimes and hobbies. In addition to a range of music and drama societies and film clubs, the University also hosts many exhibitions during the academic year. Rare faculty collections from specific fields, often displayed in specialized museums, reflect the University’s rich and fascinating history.

Sport is an inseparable part of university life. It has enjoyed a long tradition at Charles University, and CU graduates and students have scored many sporting victories. Success, however, is not the only objective of sport. The saying “mens sana in corpore sano” says it all. It is only fitting that Charles University students and staff should benefit from a wide range of sporting opportunities.

The Charles University Student Union acts as a guide for university student organizations, facilitating communication and cooperation among them, developing a creative platform for active students, supporting the implementation of their ideas, and acting as a mediator providing information to all students about what is currently happening in the academic community.

Accommodation is provided in Charles University student halls of residence. Students are housed in double rooms. Single rooms are not available. A unit consists of a pair of rooms (two rooms with two single beds each) and a shared bathroom (shower and toilet). At the end of each corridor, there is usually a small kitchenette. Students can also use a lavatory and laundry-hanging rooms located elsewhere in the building (keys are available at the reception for a fee). Bedding and bed linen are provided (bed linen is changed regularly); towels and kitchen utensils (such as pans, plates, cups etc.) are not. 

The prices differ depending on the length of time for which the student makes an accommodation agreement, and depending on the fixtures of the room. The charge for 1 bed/day and length of accommodation from 30 – 90 days is approx. CZK 150. The charge for 1 bed/day and length of accommodation from 90 – 270 days is approx. CZK 120. A deposit of CZK 1,800 must be paid approximately 2 months before arrival.

Every year almost 9,000 people graduate from Charles University and they traditionally enjoy one of the highest employment rates of any population segment in the Czech Republic. The unemployment rate among CU graduates is really low - 2.6 %.

Studies in English are paid. The tuition fee ranges from €500 to €15,000 a year, depending on the faculty or the study programme.

Charles University, CU, known also as Charles University in Prague, is the oldest and largest university in the Czech Republic. Founded in 1348 by a charter of Charles IV, King of the Romans and of Bohemia, it was the first university in Central Europe and one of the oldest universities in the world.

Thanks to Charles’ foresight and his good relations with Pope Clement VI the newly founded university had four faculties: theological, legal, medical and arts - a pattern which corresponded to medieval concepts of a complete university.

Today, CU is a modern, multi-disciplinary and research-oriented institution that is home to more than 50,000 students undertaking bachelor, master’s and doctoral programmes. 

Hundreds of specialists in the various disciplines carry out teaching and research activities. The prime purpose of Charles University is the diffusion of learning and protection of acquired knowledge, the cultivation of free thought, independent academic research and the arts, and the encouragement of the free creative spirit of humanity. The university provides an inclusive international vibe for talented students, accomplished teachers and top researchers from the Czech Republic and all over the world.

Ranking Web of World Universities indicated CU at 181st place among world universities in 2016.

Among notable alumni of the university are Franz Kafka, novelist, writer and lawyer; Jaroslav Heyrovský, chemist, Nobel laureate; Jan Janský, discoverer of blood types; Ivana Trump, socialite, fashion model and designer and many others.

The university comprises 17 faculties including Law, Arts, Pharmacy, Science, Mathematics and Physics, Education, Social Sciences, Physical Education and Sport, Humanities, Theology, and five separate Medicine Faculties.