Chulalongkorn University is a public and autonomous research university in Bangkok, Thailand. The university was originally founded during King Chulalongkorn's reign as a school for training royal pages and civil servants in 1899 (B.E. 2442) at the Grand Palace of Thailand. It was later established as a national university in 1917, making it the oldest institute of higher education in Thailand.
During the reign of Chulalongkorn's son, King Vajiravudh, the Royal Pages School became the Civil Service College of King Chulalongkorn. The Rockefeller Foundation was instrumental in helping the college form its academic foundation. On 26 March 1917, King Vajiravudh renamed the college "Chulalongkorn University".
Chulalongkorn University is a comprehensive and research-intensive university. It is ranked as the best university in Thailand in many surveys, quality of students, quality of research, quality in particular subjects, university reputation, environmental management systems. According to QS world university ranking 2017, CU is placed 245th in the world, 45th in Asia, 1st in Thailand, and 201–250 in the world graduate employability ranking. It is also ranked as Thailand's No. 1 university from various organizers such as Center for World University Rankings, Round university ranking, Academic Ranking of World Universities.
Chulalongkorn University is one of the National Research Universities and supported by the Office of Nation Education Standards and Quality Assessment of Thailand. Moreover, CU is the only Thai university which is a member of Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU).
Admission to CU is highly selective, and applicants are required to have high test scores. Applicants ranking in the top 10 national scores are chosen for study at CU.
CU is composed of nineteen faculties, a School of Agriculture, three colleges, ten institutes and two other schools. Its campus occupies a vast area in downtown Bangkok. Graduates customarily receive their diplomas from the King of Thailand, a tradition begun by King Prajadhipok (Rama VII).