The Department of Amharic at Jimma University was established in 2001(1994 E.C.) as a unit in the Department of English Language and as a separate department in 2002 (1995) E.C. The department trains students in the filed of teaching Amharic and graduates them with diploma and Bachelor of Education in Amharic language and literature in the regular and continuing education programs. Students in the undergraduate degree program are expected to attend a three- year program and produce a senior essay at the end of their study. Currently, the Department of Amharic Language has six fulltime teaching staff. It accepts 80-100 students each year and trains them to be teachers of Amharic language at high schools. Currently there are about 182 students in the regular and 55 diploma students in the continuing education program. There are 213 students in the summer program.