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Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile | |
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| Motto | In Christi lumine pro mundi vita |
|---|---|
| Type | Private (Traditional) |
| Established | 21 June 1888; 137 years ago (1888-06-21) |
Religious affiliation | Catholic Church |
Academic affiliations | Clover 2030 Engineering |
| Chancellor | Fernando Chomalí Garib, Archbishop of Santiago |
| Rector | Juan Carlos de la Llera |
Academic staff | 1,652 (full-time)[1] |
Administrative staff | 2,210 (full-time)[2] |
| Students | 33,769 |
| Undergraduates | 29,212 |
| Postgraduates | 4,557 |
| Address | AvenidaLibertador General Bernardo O'Higgins #340 ,,,Chile |
| Mascot | Pangui |
| Website | www |
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ThePontifical Catholic University of Chile (UC Chile;Spanish:Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile) is atraditionalprivate university based inSantiago, Chile. It is one of the thirteenCatholic universities existing in the Chilean university system and one of the twopontifical universities in the country, along with thePontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso. Founded in 1888, it is one ofChile's oldest universities. It is ranked among the top universities in Latin America (2nd in the region and 93th in the world as per QS Ranking 2025).[3]
Pontifical Catholic University of Chile has a strong and long-standing rivalry with theUniversidad de Chile, as they are both widely recognized as the most traditional and prestigious in the country, and one is Catholic and the other, secular. This rivalry also translates to sports, especially football.[4]
UC Chile has four campuses inSantiago and one campus inVillarrica. The campuses in Santiago are:
These four campuses have a total of 223,326.06 m2 constructed in a 614,569.92 m2 area. The Villarrica campus has 1,664 m2 constructed in a 2,362.5 m2 area.
UC Chile was founded on 21 June 1888, by theArchbishop of Santiago, to offer training in traditional professions (law) and in technological and practical fields such as business, accounting, chemistry, and electricity. Its first chancellor wasMonsignorJoaquín Larraín Gandarillas, and at the very beginning, the university only taught two subjects,law andmathematics. Since it is a Pontifical University, it has always had a strong and very close relationship with theVatican. On 11 February 1930,Pope Pius XI declared it apontifical university, and in 1931 it was granted full academic autonomy by the Chilean government.
UC Chile is a private, urban, multi-campus university. It is one of the eleven Chilean Catholic universities, and one of the twenty-five institutions within the Rectors' Council (Consejo de Rectores), the Chilean state-sponsored university system. It is part of theUniversities of the Rectors' Council of Chilean Universities, and although it is notstate-owned, a substantial part of its budget is given by state transfers under different programs.
UC Chile's 18 faculties are distributed through four campuses inSantiago and one regional campus located in southern Chile. The technical training centers affiliated with the university are:Duoc UC, the Rural Life Foundations, the Baviera Foundation, the Catechetical Home and the San Fidel Seminary. These centers carry out technical-academic extension activities in rural and agricultural areas. Other UC activities are a Sports Club, and a Clinical Hospital dependent on the Faculty of Medicine.
UC Chile's Graduates of the School of Architecture (one of the most prominent in Latin America) have also made important contributions to the country with such work as the Central Building ("Casa Central") of UC, and the National Library.
Two of its most important alumni are the JesuitSaint Alberto Hurtado andEduardo Frei Montalva, aChilean president. Both of them studied in the School of Laws.Sebastián Piñera, former Chilean president, graduated from the university's School of Economics.
In 2017 the university faced what has been called a "wave of suicide" among its students. During 2017 a total of four students have taken their lives up to October, the previous year two students committed suicide.[5] Critics, includingalumni, have written about the university's "lack of concern" for the suicide of students, an attitude they contrast to the university's staunchopposition to abortion.[6] The student union of the university issued a communique expressing feelings of guilt over the issue and the need to take charge.[6]
The Department of Industry and System Engineering is engagingStanford Technology Venture Program ofStanford University on a collaboration on innovation and technology ventures.
In December 2011, the schools of engineering of PUC and theUniversity of Notre Dame signed an agreement to establish a dual graduate degree in civil engineering and the geological sciences,[7] which now extends to other departments in both schools.
In April 2013, UC Chile and theUniversity of Notre Dame also signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen scholarly engagement and expand their long-standing relationships.[8] The agreement establishes an exchange program in which faculty, doctoral students and university representatives from each institution will visit, work, study and collaborate with the other institution.
| University rankings | |
|---|---|
| Global – Overall | |
| ARWU World[9] | 501-600 (2022) |
| CWUR World[10] | 390 (2023) |
| CWTS World[11] | 555 (2023) |
| QS World[12] | 93 (2025) |
| THE World[13] | 401–500 (2023) |
| USNWR Global[14] | =314 (2022-23) |
| Regional – Overall | |
| QS Latin America[15] | 1 (2023) |
| THE Latin America[16] | 1 (2020) |
| USNWR Latin America[17] | 3 (2022-23) |
UC ranks among the first 10 Latin-American Universities according to theShanghai ranking,[18] UC appears top in two subject rankings: it ranks around 101–150 in Economics and Management and around 151–200 in Mathematics[19]
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile has been ranked as the best university in Latin America by two of the world's most prestigious University rankings, theQS World University Rankings (in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023)[20][21] and the Times Higher Education University Rankings (2019 and 2020).[22]
Both studied law at the university.
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33°26′28″S70°38′27″W / 33.4411°S 70.6408°W /-33.4411; -70.6408
