Universiti Sains Malaysia (acronym: USM) is the only Accelerated Programs for Excellence (APEX) government funded Autonomous university in Malaysia.[6][7] USM is a full spectrum highest sustainability conceptualized university in the region, striving to achieve \"GLOBAL sustainable university status\".
Founded on 1 June 1969 as a statutory body with its own constitution, it is among the oldest institute of higher learning (IHL) in Northern Malaysia. It has three campuses, a main campus on the island of Penang, a health campus in Kelantan, and an engineering campus in Nibong Tebal. There is overseas collaboration with KLE University, India offering the Doctor of Medicine (USM) undergraduate degree. USM plans to open a Global Campus (Kuala Lumpur Campus) located at Kuala Lumpur Education City (KLCE).[8][9] With around 28,300 postgraduate and undergraduate students in 2009,[10] USM is one of the biggest universities in terms of enrolment in Malaysia. The number of lecturers is about 1,479, which leads to a student-lecturer ratio of around 19:1.
