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Universidad Externado de Colombia

Universidad Externado de Colombia

Quick facts

City
Bogotá
Country
Colombia
Type
Private
Founded
1886
Students
11,437
National ranking
#15
Tuition (local students)
COP 16,733,000
Guide score
6.9/10

Official website: www.uexternado.edu.co

Overview

The Universidad Externado de Colombia was founded in 1886 by Nicolás Pinzón Warlosten as a liberal, secular law school. Its name comes from its rejection of the boarding-school (*internado*) model. It is one of Colombia's most traditional private universities. It was the country's second institution to earn institutional accreditation (2004), and MEN renewed that acreditación de alta calidad for eight years in 2021 (Resolución 6538).

Rankings:

SNIES counts 11,437 students for 2025, across undergraduate and a very large postgraduate offering. There are more than 130 law postgraduate programmes alone.

The campus is on the eastern hills at the edge of La Candelaria, Bogotá's historic centre (Calle 12 # 1-17 Este, near the Las Aguas TransMilenio area). Its brick-and-glass towers sit next to Los Andes, Rosario and Tadeo, so the area is full of students.

Academic programs

Undergraduate teaching is organised by *facultad*:

Law carries the weight: many judges, ministers and constitutional court magistrates studied here. Teaching is in Spanish, and each faculty runs as a fairly self-contained unit.

Campus life

Life on campus is compact and centres on the faculties, with a strong debating and cultural agenda. Beyond a gym and some courts there is little sports space. The surrounding Candelaria and Centro offer cheap food, theatre, museums and bars. Walking between Candelaria and Chapinero at night needs some street sense.

Exchange programs

Your home international office first confirms that there is an active agreement and sends a nomination. You then get access to CONNEXT and complete the application. Documents:

DIRE (Dirección de Internacionalización y Relaciones Externas) and the host faculty review the file. For 2026-2 the deadlines were 24 April for nomination and 22 May for the student application. For 2026-1 they were 24 October and 21 November 2025.

Admissions

Degree applicants register online (COP 147,200) and must have taken or be booked for Saber 11. Every programme includes an interview, usually in groups of up to six. Economics, Journalism and Social Sciences add extra tests. Results come out within two working days of the interview.

Foreign or foreign-schooled applicants must:

Tuition is charged per programme and per semester. For first-semester students in 2026:

No separate rate for foreigners is published.

Student housing

Externado has no residences. Students rent in La Candelaria and Centro (rooms roughly COP 700,000–1,000,000 a month, €190–270), or in Teusaquillo and Chapinero (COP 800,000–1,300,000) and commute by TransMilenio or bike. Visit before you pay: rental scams do happen.

Career services

The Externado brand is strongest in law firms, the judiciary, regulators, banking and public administration. Each faculty runs its own internships (*prácticas*) and alumni network. Information pending on centralised employability data — contributions welcome.

Academic programs

Application deadlines

Exchange

Active partner in the Parlamento Andino / Uniwords network. Inbound exchange requires nomination by a partner university, then an online application in CONNEXT reviewed by DIRE and the host faculty.

Universities in Bogotá

Next steps

Sources