University of Structural Engineering and Architecture VSU Lyuben Karavelov

Higher School of Civil Engineering (VSU) “L. Karavelov” – Sofia is the successor of the specialized military engineering school, established for the purposes of the construction troops. The School has undergone various periods and forms of existence – school, secondary school, college and higher education institution. It was established with the Supreme Decree No 22/ 18.10.1938 of His Majesty Tsar Boris III. For a short period of time the training facilities were built in the area of the Lagera district. The command and teaching staff was also selected. In 1942 the school was moved to its own building in Gorna Banya district.

In September 1951 the school was reorganized into a National School for Officers of the Construction Troops (NUTO) and in 1952 it was named after Gen. Blagoi Ivanov. Since 1966 the school has been located in a specially constructed building in Suhodolska Street.In 1969 the school was transformed into a National Military College for officers of the Construction Troops.

Due to the significantly increased volume and complexity of construction works performed by the construction troops and the need for highly qualified military personnel with higher education, with the Decree of the State Council No 1815/ 16.08.1973 the school was transformed into the Higher National Military School "Gen. Blagoi Ivanov " (VNVSU "Gen. Blagoi Ivanov). The training was conducted in the specialty "Industrial and Civil Engineering" with two profiles: “Building Construction” and “Construction Technology”.

In the school have been trained cadres not only for the troops and for the construction industry, but also for the Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Transportation and many other government departments. The school has been a center of attraction for training not only for the young people of our country, but also for students from other countries from all over the world. In implementation of the intergovernmental agreements here were trained cadets and officers from Tanzania, Mozambique, Cuba, Laos, Vietnam, Yemen, Mongolia, Syria and others.

Its public mission is:

• To educate Bulgarian and foreign citizens for acquisition of higher education in the professional direction “Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy”;
• To maintain the European standards in the students' education;
• To carry out scientific research and practical application of projects in the field of construction and architecture;
• To provide continuing education.
  Institutional Accreditation

In Bulgaria accreditation is given by the National Evaluation and Accreditation Agency for a certain period and it is a result of an assessment of:

• The way the School performs its activity and its aims as organization in accordance with the Higher Education Act;
• The efficiency, with which the Higher School controls, maintains and increases the quality of higher education in the offered professional fields.