Hamid Taheri

Azad University

Headquartered in Tehran, Iran, the Islamic Azad University was founded in 1982 and established by Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, currently has an enrollment of 1.5 million students, making it the world's third largest. Azad University has over 100 branches across the country and also in other countries. It has branches and universities in U.A.E, United Kingdom, Tanzania, Lebanon and Armenia and has plans to establish more branch campuses in Malaysia, Canada, Afghanistan and Tajikistan in the near future. Over the years, the university has accumulated assets estimated to be worth between $20–25 billion. Islamic Azad University's activities quickly expanded throughout the country, so that today thousands of students are enrolling every year. Not relying on government funding, it receives charitable donations and charges tuition fees.