Fenerbahçe University

Fenerbahçe University is a unique institution born from more than a century of history of one of the world's most decorated and most widely supported sports clubs. Fenerbahçe Sports Club was founded in 1907 in Istanbul, still during the Ottoman era, and over more than a hundred years has won more than 1,100 cups and medals, including numerous Turkish championships in football, basketball, volleyball and other disciplines, as well as European titles. The idea of creating a university under the club's umbrella was nurtured for a decade, and in 2016 it was finally realized: Fenerbahçe Eğitim, Kültür ve Sağlık Vakfı (Fenerbahçe Foundation for Education, Culture and Health) received approval from Turkey's Council of Higher Education (YÖK), and on November 24, 2016, the university gained legal personality with the publication of the corresponding law in the Official Gazette. The university enrolled its first students in the 2018–2019 academic year, starting with 5 faculties and 18 departments and admitting around 1,000 freshmen, each on a scholarship. The first founding rector was Professor Ali Rıza Büyükuslu, who set the university's academic standards. The campus is located in the prestigious business district of Ataşehir on the Asian side of Istanbul, in the Metropol İstanbul complex — a 301-meter-tall, 70-storey skyscraper that is the tallest building in Turkey and the 9th tallest in Europe. The total campus area is approximately 100,000 square meters. In 2024, the university expanded significantly by acquiring the Novada shopping center in Ataşehir for over 60 million dollars and turning it into a second campus. Today Fenerbahçe University comprises 7 faculties, 33 departments, a Vocational School of Health Sciences with 15 programs, and an Institute of Postgraduate Studies with 12 master's and 2 doctoral programs. The university hosts more than 8,000 students, including over 1,000 international students from more than 40 countries. The Erasmus+ program connects the institution with more than 200 partner universities across Europe, while the Faculty of Sports Sciences — unique among Turkey's private universities — directly inherits the championship traditions of the Fenerbahçe club, offering programs in sports management, coaching and sports science.

Fenerbahçe University's mission is to nurture a generation of professionals capable of thinking outside the box and achieving championship-level results in any chosen field, just as the great Fenerbahçe club does on sports arenas around the world. The university strives to combine academic depth with practical skills, instilling in students leadership qualities, team spirit, social responsibility and readiness for the challenges of a rapidly changing digital era. The institution's key principle is to be a bridge between education and industry: from their first years, students gain access to internships at partner companies, clinical practice at leading medical institutions, and the opportunity to take part in real research projects. Thanks to its ties with the Fenerbahçe ecosystem, students enjoy unique access to professional networks in sports management, medicine, engineering and business. The university places particular emphasis on internationalization: more than 200 Erasmus+ partnership agreements open the doors of European universities for exchange semesters and internships. Fenerbahçe University sees its role not only in training qualified specialists but also in shaping citizens inspired by the values of fairness, perseverance and the pursuit of excellence — the very values that have defined the spirit of the Fenerbahçe club for over a century. The university's ultimate goal is to become Turkey's leading research and educational center, producing leaders ready to change the world for the better.