The name of the university has an inspiration from Mount Erciyes, which is 15 kilometres to the southwest of the university. Today, besides a campus in Kayseri's city center, the university runs its activities in central Anatolia, which provides education in 17 faculties, 14 vocational high schools, four institutions and nine research centers, and a highly developed research hospital with 1,000 beds. Establishment of Erciyes University dates back to 1978 under the name of Kayseri University. It was established as an affiliate of Hacettepe University in Ankara. Kayseri Business Administration Faculty, founded in 1977, constituted the nucleus of Kayseri University which was converted into Erciyes University. The other two higher education institutes; the Theology Institute founded in 1967, and Kayseri State Higher Education Academy founded in 1977, were incorporated into the university as the Faculty of Theology and the Faculty of Engineering. The name of the university was inspired by Mount Erciyes (3,917 m), which lies 15 kilometers to the south-west of the university. In addition to the Faculty of Medicine, the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, the Faculty of Theology, the Faculty of Engineering, and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and the following faculties were added: in 1992 the Faculty of Architecture and Fine Arts, in 1993 the Faculty of Architecture and Engineering located in Yozgat, in 1995 the Faculty of Veterinary Sciences in Kayseri and the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences in Yozgat, in 1997 the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences in Nevşehir, the Faculty of Dentistry and the Faculty of Communication, in 2002 the Faculty of Education, in 2003 the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Pharmacology and in 2005, the Develi Seyrani Faculty of Agriculture.