Universitas Sumatera Utara(USU) is one of the public universities in Medan, province of North Sumatra, and was the seventh one established in Indonesia. It was originally named Yayasan Universitet Sumatra Utara (Universitet Sumatra Utara Foundation) on 4 June 1952, with Faculty of Medicine as its first faculty built in 20 August 1952. Today, USU is one of the largest universities in Indonesia in terms of land use; the main USU Campus in the Padang Bulan subdistrict of Medan occupies 120 hectares (ha) of land with 90 ha dedicated for the core academic zones, and the Kwala Bekala campus covers a 300 ha area of forest and agriculture.

USU is recognized as one of the leading universities in Southeast Asia. USU currently has 15 faculties and 1 post-graduate school administering 154 study programs including 47 undergraduate programs, 64 post-graduate programs, 28 specialist programs, and 15 vocational programs.  

The main campus boasts solid infrastructure and facilities, conducive to a productive life for students and academia. The main library building was certified as one of the nation’s best libraries in terms of service, maintenance, and management (2012). The fifteen faculties/school boasts more than 200 laboratories, strong Wi-Fi connectivity, and modern IT facilities, resources, and services. Student housings, sports building and fields, guest house, cafeterias, shops, banks and post office make up a comprehensive range of on-campus services. Two convention buildings, the Auditorium and Gelanggang Mahasiswa (student stadium), offer amphitheater interiors for large-scale events and graduation ceremonies. A university hospital built in 2008 has now become one of USU’s prominent buildings, with broad range of services offered to the public also boosting medical students’ education.

The Kwala Bekala Campus, located 15 km from the main campus, is being developed to tap into the enormous potentials of research in North Sumatra’s agricultural, forestry, plantation, and farming sectors. Furthermore, USU manages a 550 ha experimental plantation in the Langkat regency, and is developing a 10,000 ha exemplary forest in Mandailing Natal regency.