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Universidad de Santander

Universidad de Santander

Quick facts

City
Bucaramanga
Country
Colombia
Type
Private
Founded
1982
Students
14,402
Tuition (local students)
COP 6,065,200
Guide score
6.8/10

Official website: www.udes.edu.co

Overview

The Universidad de Santander (UDES) is a private university founded on 7 February 1982 by Fernando Vargas Mendoza, originally as the Corporación Tecnológica de Santander. Its main campus is Lagos del Cacique (Calle 70 #55-210) in Bucaramanga. It also runs campuses in Cúcuta and Valledupar and an extension in Bogotá. MEN figures compiled by El Observatorio de la Universidad Colombiana give 14,402 students in 2025.

UDES holds CNA institutional accreditation for its Bucaramanga campus: Resolución 023656 of 10 December 2021, for six years. The renewal file is due to go to the CNA in December 2026. It also advertises international institutional accreditation from EQUAA and ARCU-SUR (Mercosur) accreditation for Medicina and Enfermería, with ten accredited programmes in total. We found no U-Sapiens or Scimago position.

Academic programs

Health sciences are the core:

Alongside these are Medicina Veterinaria, Microbiología Industrial, Ingeniería Ambiental and Ingeniería Industrial, plus business, law-related and education programmes and postgraduate specialisations and masters. Teaching is in Spanish, in semesters starting in February and August.

Tuition is per semester and varies sharply. In 2026:

Language and IT courses are billed separately. No distinct foreign rate is published.

Campus life

Lagos del Cacique is a large, purpose-built campus next to the Cacique shopping centre. Its health-simulation labs and clinics are the showpiece. Bucaramanga is known as the "Ciudad Bonita": warm (about 23 °C average), green, and cheaper than Bogotá or Medellín, with a lively restaurant scene on Cabecera and Carrera 33. Bienestar runs sports and culture teams. The UIS, a big public university, also gives the city a sizeable student population.

Exchange programs

UDES Internacional (Edificio Motilón, 3rd floor) runs a visiting-student call each semester. The B-2026 call ran from 2 March to 7 June 2026. Applications are submitted by the home university to profesional.drni@udes.edu.co. Under agreements the tuition exemption is full. UDES reports 80+ international agreements, and health-science rotations and research stays are the most common requests. Clinical placements have extra insurance and vaccination requirements, so ask early.

Admissions

Degree applicants need Saber 11, or an ICFES-recognised equivalent, and an interview; Medicina adds an admission exam. A foreign bachillerato must be apostilled and convalidated with the MEN. No acceptance rate is published. Stays of more than 180 days, or nationals who need a visa, require the Cancillería Visa V Estudiante (Resolución 5477 de 2022). You need an admission letter, health insurance and six months of bank statements. Only postgraduate students may work, up to 20 hours a week.

Student housing

There are no large residences. Rooms near campus, in El Tejar, Cabecera, Lagos and Diamante, are among the cheapest of any Colombian university city, around COP 520,000–750,000 per month; a listing in El Tejar next to CC Cacique asked 550,000. Many students walk to class.

Career services

Health graduates move into Santander's hospital network and clinical practice sites linked to the university. Other faculties rely on práctica agreements with regional companies. We found no published employment statistics: Information pending — contributions welcome.

Academic programs

Application deadlines

Exchange

Parlamento Andino partner; UDES Internacional hosts visiting students nominated by partner universities under 80+ international agreements, with full tuition exemption and a strong health-sciences focus.

Universities in Bucaramanga

Next steps

Sources