Shiga University
, or    is a national university in Shiga Prefecture, Japan. It has campuses at the cities of Ōtsu and Hikone. 

The predecessor of the current school, the Shiga College of Education, was founded in 1943, from the Shiga Normal School.  Then in 1949 three colleges – Shiga College of Education, Shiga Teachers Training College, and Hikone College of Economics – were combined into one institution and it was chartered as a university.

Faculties

Shiga University has two faculties, the Faculty of Education and the Faculty of Economics. Each faculty 
has a graduate school.

The Faculty of Education consists of three departments: 
 (1) Department of School Teachers' Training,
which aims to develop teachers with attractive personality as well as practical leadership to 
respond productively to the new school education;
 (2) Department of Environment Education, which 
aims to enhance understanding of current environmental systems and problems and encourage students to 
create new ways to solve problems they are facing.

The Faculty of Economics consists of six departments. All disciplines of Economics aim to develop specialists in economics with a global perspective and a problem solving ability capable of responding to the needs of a global information society.

The Graduate School of Education (Master’s Course) aims to develop teachers' expertise and practical  
capabilities so they can meet the diversified demands of the times; the Graduate School of Education is  
also designed to provide training for in-service teachers to improve their abilities.

The Graduate School of Economics has the Master's Course and the Doctoral Course. The Master's Course 
aims to develop specialists in the field economics with an international perspective. The Doctoral Course 
aims to train an international "Risk Manager" who is capable of performing risk analysis as well as risk 
management for economy or business administration.

History

The Otsu campus of Shiga University has its origin in the establishment of Shiga Normal School in Otsu in 1874. This school was reorganized as the Shiga College of Education in 1943. Upon the founding of Shiga University in May, 1949, the Shiga College of Education and the Shiga Teachers Training College were brought together as the Faculty of Liberal Arts.

The Hikone campus has its origin in the establishment of the Hikone Commercial College in 1922. This college was reorganized in 1944 as the Hikone College of Economics. At the time Shiga University was founded in May, 1949, the college had become the Faculty of Economics.

The administrative offices of the university are located on the Hikone campus.

The following table shows the development and reorganization of Shiga University since its foundation in 1949: