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The University of The Andes (Universidad de los Andes), also commonly self-styled as Uniandes, is a private research university located in the city centre of Bogotá, Colombia. Founded in 1948 by a group of Colombian intellectuals led by Mario Laserna Pinzón, it was the first Colombian university established as nonsectarian (independent from any political party or religious institution). Los Andes has consistently been regarded as the best Colombian university and has been considered one of the top 5 Latin American universities and one of the top 250 world universities, according to both the QS World Top University Ranking and the Times Higher Education Classification.

The university is academically composed of nine schools, three special academic entities —the Alberto Lleras Camargo School of Government, the Center for Research and Training in Education (Centro de Investigación y Formación en Educación, CIFE), and the Interdisciplinary Center for Development Studies (Centro Interdisciplinario de Estudios sobre Desarrollo, CIDER)—and a joint academic venture with the medical institution Santa Fe de Bogotá Foundation, offering 31 undergraduate, 18 doctoral, and 38 graduate degree-granting programs in areas of human knowledge such as medicine, engineering, science, law and others.

As of 2011, the university had produced 128 research groups recognized by Colciencias, most of them in the social sciences, mathematics, physics and engineering. By 2017, the number of groups recognized by Colciencias has increased to 153 research groups. It is one of the few Colombian universities to have received the maximum high quality institutional accreditation by the Colombian Ministry of Education, given in January 2015.

Historical context
In 1930, the Colombian presidential elections resulted in the appointment of Liberal party candidate Enrique Olaya Herrera to an office that had been, since 1880, under Conservative control. The latter years of this Conservative Republic were punctuated by events such as the Banana massacre, which may have been a contributing factor to the Colombian Conservative Party's loss of the presidency.



During this new period of Liberal government, known as the Liberal Republic, the administrations of Alfonso López Pumarejo (1934-1938 and 1942–1946) implemented changes intended to modernize the country. Restructuring of higher education, in particular of the National University of Colombia in 1935, agrarian reform in 1936, and general promotion of industrialization resulted in rapid economic changes and growth. According to some estimates, around 50% of existing Colombian corporations in 1945 were founded between 1940 and 1945, promoting the accumulation of wealth and the creation of a new middle class with political interests and international aspirations.

However, in order to continue industrial development, there was an urgent need for skilled labor, reflected in the speech given by the Colombian Minister of Education to the Congress of Colombia in 1946: "We have a lack of engineers, architects, physicians, dentists, agronomists, veterinarians, chemists and even lawyers (...) in sufficient quantities to attend to the country's needs, and the only solution lies in the enlargement of the universities... in the creation of a university for the country, that responds to what the country calls for."

- Germán Arciniegas

These words echo the suggestions made around 35 years earlier by liberal leader Rafael Uribe Uribe regarding the need for the modernization of the educational system. These intellectual currents were coherent with previous educational developments such as the foundation of the Gimnasio Moderno in 1914. Amid the political tension and violence caused by the loss of liberal power in the 1946 elections, social unrest, and industrial growth, leftist liberal presidential candidate Jorge Eliécer Gaitán was assassinated on April 9, 1948, in an event that shook the country and was taken by the founders as "the best argument for the foundation of the university".

Foundation and early years (1949-1956)
In November 1948, returning to Colombia after graduating from Columbia University, accompanied by intellectuals from the elites of both traditional parties, Mario Laserna Pinzón founded the Universidad de los Andes as the first nonsectarian and non-politically affiliated university in the country. The founders' intentions were to provide Colombia with professionals whose technical knowledge would benefit the development of the country, which made it necessary for them to study abroad and bring this knowledge back, and who would subsequently use this knowledge in their roles as leaders of the nation. This would be facilitated by the fact that founders, faculty, and staff already occupied prominent posts in government and institutions. Uniandes would be modeled after American universities and its students would receive not only technical but also liberal education, in accordance to the need for the development of the human intellect for a practical, altruistic purpose, as per the Declaration of the Principles of the Founders.

Classes started the 29th of March, 1949, with only 80 students taking courses from a small set of faculties and schools. Of note was the Colegio de Estudios Superiores, or college, which was modeled on the American university college and had the responsibilities of offering classes on Humanities, Spanish, English, Contemporary Civilization, and Colombian Geography & History; an innovation for Colombia at the time. By the second academic year, in 1950, there were around 400 applications for 110 places of study in Uniandes.

Experiments
Throughout the early 1950s, Uniandes carried several experiments attempting to fulfill the Principles of the Founders. Some of these failed: the Faculty of Aeronautic Sciences, due to low student interest; the Institute for Conservation of Natural Resources, which granted non-professional degrees on its subject matter; and the Preparatory Lyceum of Pereira, intended to equip high school students of this city with the necessary tools to thrive in Uniandes. Important successes were attained by the Cultural Extension Section: the organization of academic conferences whose speakers included the likes of John von Neumann, Arnold J. Toynbee, Hideki Yukawa, Thornton Wilder, and others. Active recruitment of foreign professors from abroad and from other Colombian educational institutions, such as the National University, the Normal Superior School, and the Gimnasio Moderno, was also an important strategy for the administrative staff in the early years of Uniandes.

The three/two program
Starting in 1950, the three/two program was established at first with the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. Through it, Uniandes students were able to take 5 semesters or three years at home, and then transfer to an American university to complete their undergraduate program. Participating universities included Pittsburgh, MIT, Vanderbilt, and Texas, among others. ICETEX, a government agency created with the objective of promoting Colombian students abroad through grants and scholarships, was established by University founder and Minister of Education Gabriel Betancourt, and still holds close ties with the University.

Growth and expansion (1956-1977)
The first 15 students graduated from Architecture, Economics, Civil Engineering, and Electrical Engineering on November 19th, 1954. The fourth rector of the university, Alberto Lleras Camargo (former Minister of Education and future President of Colombia), also took office on this date, succeeding Roberto Franco Franco (1948-1952), Eduardo Zuleta Ángel (1952-1953), and Mario Laserna (1953-1954). His administration established an enrolment cap of 1,000 students and opened all professional programs to women,  echoing the enaction of women's suffrage by then-dictator Rojas Pinilla.

The mid-fifties to early-sixties were beleaguered by increases in the debt burden of the university. These financial difficulties eventually triggered the first-ever tuition increases in 1961 and 1962. Due to rapid devaluation of the Colombian peso against the dollar, the three/two program was discontinued in 1963. In 1957, the university enlisted the support of Nelson Rockefeller in establishing the University of the Andes Foundation in New York City, with the aim of raising donations for expansion expenses. Between 1956 and 1962, with additional contributions from the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations, Uniandes received US$1.93 million (equivalent to US$16.69 million in 2021 ) to be invested in construction of libraries, offices, research centers, and administrative facilities.

Administration and organization
The university was legally established as a common-utility nonprofit corporation in February 1948. The Colombian government granted it University status in 1964. , the Statutes that define the university's structure were last amended and ratified in 2009. . Uniandes' organs of government are the Board of Trustees, the Board of Directors, the Rector (president), one or more Vice-Rectors, a Secretary, the Academic Council, the Deans, the Faculty Councils, and other supporting administrative officers.

The Board of Trustees is the supreme organ of the university, tasked with setting its general policies, having the power to amend the Statutes. The board has 30-45 members at all times, 2 of which must be Professors, and 2 of which must be students. The Board of Directors is responsible for the management and administration of the university, through reviews and approvals of the PDI (Programa de Desarrollo Integral): a 5-year development program prepared by the office of the Rector. The latter is the university's legal representative, and it is responsible for implementing the PDI, setting the budgets, and appointing Departmental, Research Center, and Administrative Unit directors. The Deans are the administrative heads of each faculty, and together with the Rector, Vice-Rectors, and Directors of academic units, they comprise the Academic Council, entrusted with disciplinary and academic matters (such as modifying and terminating academic programs and units).

There are 14 academic units: 10 faculties, the CIDER (Centro Interdisciplinario de Estudios sobre Desarrollo), the Alberto Lleras Camargo School of Government, Conecta-te (Centro de Innovación en Tecnología y Educación de la Universidad de los Andes), and the Dean of Students. The academic units are home to 745 non-faculty staff as of 2021. There is a total of 20 Administrative Units, which accrue an additional 853 non-faculty staff.

According to a financial audit performed by Ernst & Young Colombia in 2020, the value of the University's assets totaled 1.74 trillion COP corresponding to US$426.1 million at the COP/USD exchange rate for December 31, 2020. These amounts comprise cash and cash equivalents, investments, intangible assets, investment properties, among others.

Mission
The university's Statutes state: "Universidad de los Andes is an autonomous and independent institution that fosters pluralism, diversity, dialogue, debate, criticism, tolerance and respect for the ideas, beliefs, and values of its members. It also seeks academic excellence, and imparts a critical and ethical formation to its students, in order to strengthen their awareness of their social and civic responsibilities, and their commitment to the analysis and solution of the problems of Colombia. (...)"

- Board of Trustees of the Universidad de los Andes (translated by Anthony Letts)

University rankings
Universidad de los Andes was first ranked by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) in 2012, attaining a Colombian rank of 1st, a Latin American rank of 6th, and an overall world rank of 335th. , the highest ranks attained for the last two previous categories were 5th in 2020 and 227th in 2021. The Times Higher Education ranking first included Uniandes in 2013, the only Colombian university listed, placing it in the 351-400 bracket worldwide. This position rose to 251-275 in 2014. THE first compared it with other Latin American universities in 2016, where it reached 10th place. The ARWU or Shanghai Ranking placed Los Andes 2nd in Colombia

La República, a financial newspaper founded in 1954 by former Colombian president Mariano Ospina Pérez, ranked the Universidad de los Andes as 2nd best among Colombian universities in 2022. The report compiled results from QS World University Rankings, Webometrics Ranking of World Universities, SCImago Institutions Rankings, and Sapiens Research.

A 2009 poll performed by the National University of Colombia measured university perceptions and preferences by Colombians 18-60 years of age living in Bogotá, Medellín, Palmira, Manizales, Arauca, Leticia, and San Andrés. It ranked Uniandes as the 5th favorite country-wide with 6.8% of the votes, and 3rd in Bogotá with 11.8% of the votes.

Admissions
, undergraduates can seek admission under 7 different modalities, 4 of them being internal or external transfers. The remaining three are test- or performance-based: ICFES examination, National University of Colombia admission test, or grades attained during the last two years of bachillerato. Applicants are admitted with an ICFES Saber 11 score of 300 or higher for most programs (out of a test maximum of 500, with a theoretical mean of 250), exceptions being medicine, psychology, and music, due to additional requirements set by Colombian law.

, Uniandes' acceptance rate (admitted/applied) was 74%, while the yield rate sat at 28%. Yield rates for specialization, master's, and doctoral degrees sat at 49%, 42%, and 34% respectively.

A majority of undergraduate admits attained ICFES Saber 11 scores that placed them in the top 20% of students nationwide. For each Saber 11 section, the percentage of students who obtained these scores was 72% for Civic Competencies, 63% for Written Communication, 93% for English Knowledge (97% with B1/B+ CEFR equivalent), 72% for Critical Reading, and 75% for Quantitative Reasoning.

Tuition and financial aid
Yearly undergraduate tuition is around 11.5 times the mean yearly Colombian income (16.3 times for medicine). The University offers up to 13 scholarships or bursaries and additional financial aid options for newly admitted students, based on academic performance, personal circumstances, or legacy; aid programs are also available for students already enrolled. These options cover from 20% of tuition (for GPA-based scholarships), up to 95% for the Quiero Estudiar scholarship, and 98% for the Pa'lante Caribe and Pacífico scholarships, geared towards historically underserved and marginalized rural communities.

Program structure
Students can register in classes from all academic programs offered at Los Andes; this interdisciplinary approach allows students to design their own curricular program, with the assistance of academic advisors. The following scheme shows the academic structure at Uniandes, which includes four cycles: a Basic Professional Cycle (CBP, in Spanish), which refers to the basic subjects belonging to each program; a Cycle of Elective Courses in Socio-humanistic issues (CSH, in Spanish), common to all programs and that offers about 180 courses; a Professional Cycle (CP, in Spanish), which includes the main professional subject for each program; and a Professional Complementary Cycle (CPC), which includes subjects from the specific program and subjects from other programs.

Faculty and staff
Los Andes' faculty members were mainly full-time academics, of whom 70% had a PhD from a top university in the world. Los Andes has traditionally supported instructors in undertaking their master's and PhD studies in different subject areas in renowned foreign universities.

Campus


Uniandes started academic activities in terrains rented from the Community of the Good Shepherd, a religious institution, and would continue to do so for around five years before buying the first plots of land, with a size of approximately 0.025 square kilometers. Included in the purchase were several buildings that were used by the religious community, such as a convent and a prison for women. Due to the low university population, the existing buildings were mostly restored and conditioned to provide adequate facilities for academic activities.

The campus is largely made up of a mixture of renovated industrial and religious buildings and newly constructed facilities. The infrastructure covers 180,551 sq mt and includes approximately 116 classrooms, 219 laboratories, a central library, and five satellite libraries (specialized by areas), were more than 445,000 books are available for students. It also has 26 computer rooms and six service units that hire out laptops, offering nearly 2,000 computers for student use (16.5 computers for each 100 students). As of 2017, there are 3,019 computers available for student use in the computer rooms.

In 1956 a metallic cylindrical structure now known as La Caneca (the Trash Bin) was installed on campus. La Caneca  is the sports center of the university and it is composed of a gym, a pool, and various courts for sports like tennis, squash, and football.

The university's campus is in Bogota's historical center, an area that houses most of the city's buildings of cultural interest, universities, banks, and large Colombian companies; the main offices of the national and local government; and a variety of cultural meeting places, such as libraries, museums, theatres, scientific and literary centers, and art galleries.

Also on campus are:
 * Central cafeteria and many other food stations inside and outside the campus
 * Gym and sports facilities
 * Health services
 * Rest and study areas

In addition to the main campus, the university also has an Internships Center for the Medicine Faculty, located at the Fundación Santa Fe de Bogotá, in the northern part of the city. Uniandes and Fundación Santa Fe—one of the most renowned medical institutions in the country—engage in a joint academic venture.

Student life and population
, Uniandes' student population is 54% male and 46% female. The highest female participation sits at 90% for Early childhood education, while the highest male participation is tied between Mechanical and Computer engineering at 86%. In the first semester of 2021, the percentage of newly admitted students coming from Bogotá sat at 56.6%, the next most common provenance being the deparments of Cundinamarca, Santander, and Boyacá. Students are known as Uniandinos, and are commonly called mono/a, monito/a, or monis by administrative personnel and vendors in campus surroundings.

According to the university's mobility poll, 53% of the student body lives in the neighborhoods of Usaquén, Chapinero, and Suba, located in the northern part of the city, while 13% lives in the neighborhoods of Santa Fe and La Candelaria, which are downtown and adjacent to campus. The percentage of students that commute to campus via public transport is 41.2% while drivers make up 31.6%; effectively making Uniandes a commuter school. In addition, 80.2% of students live with their nuclear or extended families, students in university housing amount to 1.9% of the total.

International students
International students can attend the university as visiting students, who must be enrolled in at least three courses per semester, or exchange students, who can take between two and six courses per semester. Los Andes has academic exchange programs with more than 119 universities in 34 countries worldwide.

Mascot
The mascot of Uniandes is a goat called Séneca, after the Roman Stoic philosopher. Its story dates back to the late 1940s when a goat roamed the campus freely. Students adopted it, and it soon became a symbol of the university. The goat died in 1966 when it fell off a cliff. Today it is not possible to keep a goat on campus, but Seneca is fondly remembered. The wireless spots are named after the goat, and every year a goat is brought to the university to celebrate "Students' Day."

Social perceptions and controversies
Colombian newspaper El Tiempo has described the university as elite and its students as apathetical and detached, with one columnist calling them gomelos (Colombian pejorative for young privileged people). Some students have also been accused of writing classist statements in public online forums. Selected publications reflect students' own knowledge of their university being widely perceived as attended only by the wealthy. Statistical documents published by the university show that the majority of newly admitted undergraduates (79% in 2014 and 72% in 2019) come from the three highest Colombian official strata divisions. The decrease in the previous statistic can be partly explained by the introduction of the Ser Pilo Paga government program in 2015, which provides tuition support to underprivileged students based on their academic potential. El Tiempo, Semana, and El Espectador have published criticism of the program as perpetuating social inequality and not addressing structural issues with Colombian higher education, though there is some evidence that it has encouraged social mobility for its beneficiaries and it has challenged social class divisions inside the university.

Notable alumni

 * Luis Caballero – Colombian painter
 * Maria Fernanda Cardoso – artist
 * Patricia Cardoso – filmmaker
 * Andrea Echeverri – musician, lead singer of alternative rock band Aterciopelados
 * Juan Carlos Echeverry – former CEO of Ecopetrol and was the 68th Minister of Finance and Public Credit of Colombia
 * Sergio Fajardo – former Governor of Antioquia (2012-2016) and mayor of Medellin (2004-2007)
 * César Gaviria – President of Colombia (1990–1994), Secretary General of the Organization of American States (1994-2004)
 * Alejandro Gaviria Uribe – former 3rd Minister of Health and Social Protection of Colombia
 * Helena Groot – professor, microbiologist, geneticist
 * María Ángela Holguín – former Minister of Foreign Affairs, formerly the 25th Colombian Ambassador to the UN and Ambassador to Venezuela
 * Rafael Pardo Rueda – former 1st Minister of Labour of Colombia and formerly member of the Colombian Senate
 * Ana Maria Rey – Colombian theoretical physicist awarded the Genius Grant by the MacArthur Foundation for her research on ultra-cold atoms (1999)
 * Carlos Rodado Noriega – former Colombia Ambassador to Argentina, formerly 28th and 9th Minister of Mines and Energy of Colombia, Ambassador to Spain and member of the Chamber of Representatives of Colombia
 * Gabriela Tafur – Miss Colombia (2018)
 * Paola Turbay – Colombian-American actress and former Miss Colombia (1992)
 * Simón Vélez – prize-winning architect known for his innovative use of bamboo as an essential building component