The University of Cartagena (), also called UniCartagena, is a departmental public coeducational research university based primarily in the city of Cartagena, BolÃÂvar, Colombia. The university offers education at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, including two doctoral programs.
The university is a member of the Association of Colombian Universities, the Iberoamerican Association of Postgraduate Universities, and the State University System (). On March 26, 2014, the University of Cartagena received from the Ministry of Education Institutional Accreditation of High Quality, becoming the first and only public university in the Caribbean region with this accreditation.
In 1826, General Francisco de Paula Santander's decree cleared the way for the creation of a university in the Caribbean region of Colombia and Cartagena de Indias was chosen as its location. On October 6, 1827, the Liberator Simón BolÃÂvar formalized the establishment of the University of Magdalena and the Isthmus, as Panama was part of Colombia at that time. Subsequently, due to territorial and political changes, the University of Central Magdalena became the University of Cartagena, initially based in the Cloister of St. Augustine, offering only two undergraduate programs: Law and Medicine.
In the 1950s, the current university shield was officially adopted. In 1989, the university inaugurated the Health Campus, relocating the faculties of Medicine, Nursing, Dentistry, and Pharmaceutical Chemistry. In 2001, the Faculty of Science and Engineering moved to the Stone Bolivar Campus, followed by the Faculty of Economics in 2003.
In 1993, the university established distance learning through the Regional Centers for Distance Education (CREAD). The university offers programs in the municipalities of SimitÃÂ, Santa Rosa del Sur, Carmen de BolÃÂvar, San Estanislao, Turbaco, and San Marcos Magangué.
Master's degrees are offered in:
The University of Cartagena offers other graduate programs, called specializations in Colombia, which do not lead to a PhD.