The founder of Kadir Has University, the late Mr. Kadir Has, dedicated his life to education.

Our institution’s founding grew out of his philosophy: “I will strive to do and be the best for my country.” In keeping with this motto, our purpose is to facilitate today’s youth’s education, development, and prosperity through innovative research and academic teaching that inspires democratic thinking and practice. We believe that education can fortify our students to meet the tests of their own time as it did earlier generations. 

We aim to create an environment of education, research, and academic freedom at the world’s level of the best universities. Thus, we offer instruction based on traditional disciplines and interdisciplinary models; we foster the skills necessary for continuing social and cultural development. While helping students prepare for the future, we encourage their search for higher truths.

The central tenet of Kadir Has University’s philosophy is to produce self-confident students who question, consider all perspectives, evaluate them without prejudice, and are open to the winds of change. We want students to see that as successful scholars and fulfilled individuals, they are the leaders of our society. To reach this goal:

  • We hold to international standards of quality while keeping our tuition fees at moderate levels;
  • We offer scholarships to all our students who achieve a high GPA;
  • We strive to keep class sizes small for better teaching;
  • We prefer targeted education over loosely organized programs;
  • We give students access to our advanced technological facilities and intellectual resources;
  • We update our curricula and syllabi each year in response to international developments and student needs, preferring a dynamic curriculum to static programs;
  • We encourage the free expression of faculty and student opinion and creative ideas; we focus on academic freedom, a democratic environment, and positive human relations for intellectual discussion;
  • We select our faculty members from internationally respected universities and encourage them to consider their fields of expertise from both a local and global point of view;
  • We foster social responsibility projects that contribute to the environment and society and motivate our students to be responsible citizens;
  • By collaborating with prominent foreign universities, we assist our students in furthering their education abroad;
  • With our doors open to international collaboration, we pursue our goal of becoming a world university in the center of Istanbul.