Šiaulių valstybinė kolegija (Šiauliai State Higher Education Institution) is the only state higher educational institution in Šiauliai county that provides higher college education.
The Institution started its operation in 2002 by the order of the Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Lithuania to merge Šiauliai Higher School of Medicine and Šiauliai Higher Technical School into Šiauliai College.
These higher schools in Šiauliai had their own history. In 1946-1991 there was a Nursing School in the town which in 1991 became a High School of Medicine. In 1961-1991 there was Politechnic School in Šiauliai, which in 1991 became Higher Technical School.
In 2002 Šiauliai Higher Technical School became the Faculty of Business and Technology of Šiauliai College and Šiauliai Higher School of Medicine - Faculty of Health Care of Šiauliai College. 10 higher education non-university study programs were carried out in the two faculties of Šiauliai College in 2002-2003. Throughout the entire life of the Institution, the number of study programmes has almost tripled corresponding to labor market needs.
In 2004 the College has been awarded Erasmus University Charter.
In 2005 the College began to publish a collection of scientific articles journal "Professional Studies: Theory and Practice". Since 2013 the journal is indexed in the EBSCO database. In 2016 scientific journal "Professional Studies: Theory and Practice” began to be published in cooperation with the Tallinn University of Applied Sciences and is published in English only.
In 2006 The Center for Quality Assessment in Higher Education assessed the quality of all areas of the College's activity and gave positive evaluation. Šiauliai College has been granted the right to train for professional bachelor's degree by the Order No. 666 of the Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Lithuania on 16 April 2007.
On 14 April 2010 under the Resolution No. 241 by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, State budgetary institution Šiauliai College was reorganized into a public institution - Šiauliai State College.
Since 2012 the Institution is a member of the Global Compact Network, initiated by the United Nations, and reports annually to the public on social responsibility of its activity.
Since 2013 the Institution has an internal quality management system that meets the ISO 9001:2015 standard and incorporates the principles of EFQM.
In 2013 the quality of the Šiauliai State College activity was assessed by international experts. Šiauliai State College was accredited for the maximum allowed period of 6 years by Law on Higher Education and Research of the Republic of Lithuania under the Director of the Center for Quality Assessment in Higher Education Order No. SV6-10 on 19 March 2014.
In 2014 Šiauliai State College became the first Lithuanian college to sign the European Charter for Researchers.
In 2018 Šiauliai State College will award the 10,000th diploma!
Since 2021 following the experience of European higher education institutions, the practice of the Lithuanian higher education area, with the approval of the Directorate of a higher education institution and the Academic Council, the name of the Institution is translated into English as Šiauliai State University of Applied Sciences. This name is now used in all communication of Institution in foreign languages.
From 2023 original (not translated) Institution‘s name is used in foreign language texts - Šiaulių valstybinė kolegija (previously translated as Šiauliai State University of Applied Sciences).
