Free University of Colombia

The Free University was constituted in 1923, thanks to the impulse given by General Benjamin Herrera, who at the Liberal convention of 1922 meeting in Ibagué, approved an agreement by which the Liberals promised to give it decided to support. This is how the Institution began activities with the Faculties of Law and Political Sciences, Engineering, the Schools of Sciences, and of Arts and Crafts. At present, it is, after the National University, since it provides education to more than 30,000 students in its sections of Santa Fe de Bogotá, Cali, Pereira, Cùcuta, El Socorro, Cartagena, and Barranquilla. Since its founding, the University has been governed by the principles of Freedom of teaching and learning, ideological pluralism, equality, fraternity, and democracy. Today it is a non-profit and social interest corporation, whose objective is to provide education at all levels and fields of knowledge, to train professionals who stand out for their moral integrity and academic excellence, respect, and tolerance for the beliefs and rights of others. In Barranquilla, the sectional began with the Faculty of Law in 1956. Years later, in 1974 it was opened with the Faculty of Medicine and in 1993 it was opened with the Faculty of Accounting. With the opening in 1994 of the Physiotherapy, Bacteriology, Microbiology, Industrial Engineering and Surgical Instrumentation programs, the Faculty of Medicine became the Faculty of Health Sciences. As of the second semester of 1998, the Faculty of Engineering began, starting with the Industrial Engineering Program. Our growth is possible, thanks to our modern facilities where hundreds of citizens eager for training, from all over the Caribbean region, are educated at both the Undergraduate and Postgraduate levels.