The University of Dschang is the town's defining institution — a campus of some 25,000 students that gives this hill station the intellectual energy of a university town and sustains a market, restaurant scene, and social life well beyond what a town of its size would otherwise support. The campus itself is substantial, set on the hillside above the town centre with views over the surrounding highlands.
The presence of the university makes Dschang noticeably different from other towns of similar size in the western highlands. Bookshops, internet cafes, restaurants serving food from across Cameroon, and the general hum of student life make the town more cosmopolitan and more interesting than the setting alone would suggest. The university botanical garden, maintained by the Faculty of Agriculture and Agricultural Sciences, is open to visitors and contains a good collection of highland Cameroonian plant species.