University of Indonesia

UI's origins date back to the School of Health Sciences and Vaccines (Opleiding van eleves voor de genees-en helkunde en vaccine) on 2 January 1849 based on a decree from the Governor of the Dutch East Indies. At that time, the colonial government of the Dutch East Indies established a school to train medical assistants. Training lasted for two years, and the graduates were certified to perform basic medicine. Those graduates were awarded the title Javanese Doctor (Dokter Jawa) and were authorised to practice only within the Dutch East Indies, especially Java. The program became more comprehensive; in 1864 it was expanded to three years, and by 1875 it had reached seven years and the graduates were entitled to the degree of Medical Doctor.

The next step came in 1898, when the Dutch East Indies government established a new school to train medical doctors, named STOVIA (School tot Opleiding van Inlandsche Artsen). A school building was opened in March 1902, in a building that is now the Museum of National Awakening. The prerequisite to enter STOVIA was roughly the equivalent of a junior high school diploma. The schooling took nine years, so it was a mix between high school and university education. Education at STOVIA lasted for 9 years: 3 years at junior high school level, three years at high school level, and three years at diploma level. Many STOVIA graduates later played important roles in Indonesia's national movement toward independence, as well in developing medical education in Indonesia.

In 1924, the colonial government decided to open a new tertiary-level educational facility, the RHS (Rechts Hogeschool), to train civilian officers and servants. The RHS would later evolve into the Faculty of Law. In 1927, STOVIA's status was changed to that of a full tertiary-level institution and its name was changed to GHS (Geneeskundige Hogeschool). The GHS occupied the same main building and used the same teaching hospital as the current Faculty of Medicine. Many GHS alumni would later play roles in establishing the University of Indonesia.

After Indonesia gained independence, the Indonesian Institute for Higher Education (BPTRI) was established on 19 August 1945 in Jakarta. BPTRI had two faculties (then called colleges), namely the College of Medicine and the College of Law/Letters. The chairman of BPTRI was Prof dr Sarwono Prawirohardjo. The College of Medicine was officially opened on 1 October 1945. The institute produced its first 90 graduate students as medical doctors in the same year. When the Dutch colonial army occupied Jakarta in late 1945, the BPTRI moved to Klaten, Surakarta, Yogyakarta, Surabaya and Malang. On 21 June 1946, the Netherlands Indies Civil Administration (NICA) established the Nood Universiteit or Emergency University at Jakarta. In 1947, the name was changed to Universiteit van Indonesië (UvI) or Universitas Indonesia. Following the Indonesian National Revolution, the government established a state university in Jakarta in February 1950. The name was Universiteit Indonesia, comprising the BPTRI units and the former UvI, which was later changed into Universiteit Indonesia (UI).

Universiteit Indonesia officially started its activities on 2 February 1950 with its first president (now renamed to rector) Ir. R.M. Pandji Soerachman Tjokroadisoerio. The office of the President of Universiteit Indonesia was initially based in Jakarta, precisely in the Faculty of Medicine building on Jl. Salemba Raya no. 6, then moved to one of the former madat factory buildings on Jl. Salemba Raya no. 4, Jakarta. 2 February 1950 was later made the birthday of Universitas Indonesia. Initially, UI was a multi-campus university, with faculties in Jakarta (Medicine, Law, and Letters), Bogor (Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine), Bandung (Engineering, Mathematics and Natural Sciences), Surabaya (Medicine and Dentistry), and Makassar (Economics and Law). The Surabaya campus became the University of Airlangga in 1954. In the following year, the Makassar campus became the University of Hasanuddin.

In 1955, Law No. 10 on the change of the words universiteit, universitet, and universitit was passed, so since then, Universiteit Indonesia was officially renamed Universitas Indonesia.

In 1959, the Bandung campus became the Bandung Institute of Technology. The School for Physical Education, which was also in Bandung, became part of Padjadjaran University in 1960. In 1964, the Bogor campus became the Bogor Agricultural Institute and the Faculty of Teaching and Education in Jakarta became the Institute of Teaching and Education (now the State University of Jakarta). By 1965, UI consisted of three campuses, all in Jakarta: Salemba (Medicine, Dentistry, Economics, Engineering, Science and the Graduate School), Rawamangun (Letters, Law, Social Science and Psychology) and Pegangsaan (Public Health and parts of Medicine). In 1987, several faculties from the Salemba and Rawamangun campuses moved to a newly built campus in the outskirts of Jakarta. The campus in southern Jakarta is known as the Depok campus (it is in the city of Depok).

In the year 2007–2008, Universitas Indonesia underwent substantial reform. Revenue was significantly increased from 800 billion to 1.6 trillion rupiah. The number of research publications has increased. This is also the case with the university's endowment fund.

Facilities

Campus bus

Campus buses are provided free of charge to serve the transport needs of students within the UI Depok campus. However, this bus can be utilised by local residents for free who use the campus bus as a means of transport to connect the Kukusan area with the Margonda area. Among UI residents and locals, this bus is better known as the Yellow Bus (Bikun), shortened word of "Bis Kuning" or "yellow bus". In 2005, Universitas Indonesia had a total of 20 campus buses. They routinely serve 2 routes within the campus on Monday-Friday, 7:00 AM to 17:00. The two routes are the red route and the blue route. Usually, the red line runs clockwise around UI and blue line runs counter clockwise. A bus tracker website called Bikun Tracker, created by university students, keeps track of the movement of the buses for easy navigation.

Campus bike

Since July 2008, Universitas Indonesia has offered a bike rental facility to students through the Yellow Bicycle Programme. For the rent, students need to show their UI student card (KTM) to the rental officer. The bike must be used on bike lanes, and it must be returned to a bike station. The return process is identical to borrowing as students must show their KTM to the guard. Though this has largely been replaced by Beam Mobility Electric bikes.

Others

The Depok campus is served by the on-campus Universitas Indonesia Station and Pondok Cina (outside the campus) stations on the KRL Commuterline rail system, while its Salemba campus is connected with Transjakarta Salemba UI bus station.

Health center

The polyclinic provides free health services for all UI students, including dentistry and orthodontics. There is also a 300-bed hospital called the RSUI (Rumah Sakit UI) or UI Hospital.

Controversies

On 16 April 2026, 16 students of the law faculty were suspended pending investigation after messages containing explicit remarks about female peers circulated online and prompted public criticism.