Private university · founded 1974 · Mueang Chiang Mai (Kaew Nawarat) / Mae Khao
Payap University was established as Payap College in 1974 by the Foundation of the Church of Christ in Thailand, and was granted full university status in 1984 -- becoming Thailand's first private university. Its roots reach back further still: the Thailand Theological Seminary founded in 1888 by American Presbyterian missionaries is now integrated into Payap as the McGilvary College of Divinity, one of the university's academic divisions.
Payap operates two Chiang Mai campuses -- the original Kaew Nawarat campus near the old McCormick Hospital site, and the larger Mae Khao campus about two miles east, whose first buildings were dedicated in 1982 and which now serves as the university's main campus. Payap runs a range of English-medium international programs alongside its Thai-medium faculties.
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