Universiti Pertahanan Nasional (UPNM) or the National Defence University of Malaysia is a military university located in Sungei Besi Camp, Kuala Lumpur. The university is Malaysia's first catering to the needs and development of modern armed forces. As of year 2008, it has around 1,500 undergraduate students, with over 1,300 of them are Officer Cadets. UPNM was originally Akademi Tentera Malaysia (ATMA) or the Malaysian Armed Forces Academy which was established on June 1, 1995. It was an organisation solely responsible in upgrading the knowledge and academic status of the armed forces by offering bachelor degrees in fields of engineering, sciences and managements while not neglecting the basic requirements of military training. The bachelor degree courses were accredited and awarded by Universiti Teknologi Malaysia in the beginning. Lecturers—some from within the armed forces, some hired by the academy and the rest deputised by UTM—were fully committed to changing the face of the Malaysian armed forces. On November 10, 2006, ATMA's responsibility was recognised and further given a boost when it was upgraded to university status creating the current UPNM.