Universities
Mar 04, 2009
Mexico has more than two million students and has more than 2000 higher education institutes.
However, among these 2000 are many very small institutes and universities of poor quality.
Most of the students (two third) attend a public university. However, studying at a private university has become popular in the last decades: there are some high quality private universities that are known worldwide for their good reputation. Private universities tend to offer what the market demands and therefore often focus on popular fields like business and engineering. Public universities generally offer a wider range of programs. Also research is mainly conducted at public universities, especially when it involves high investments like laboratories.
Most of the universities are situated in Mexico City. This also goes for the largest university of the country: UNAM (Universidad National Autónoma de Mexico). Some private universities have several campuses throughout the country. Examples of these universities are ITESM, Universidad de Iberoamericana and La Salle.
Not all higher education institutes are called ‘universities’. An institute can be called university if it offers at least five programmes at licenciatura or at postgraduate level in at least three different disciplines. One of those disciplines has to be humanities. Other higher education institutes are called ‘institutos tecnológicos’, ‘escuelas normales’ (teacher training colleges) or ‘universidades tecnológicos’. This last institute only offers two year higher technical training and give direct access to the labour market or one of the other institutes. For more information, see also Degrees.