International students

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Admission Requirements

Admission requirements for Colombian or foreign students graduated abroad: Undergraduate programs

Colombian or foreign students graduated abroad may enroll by presenting a completion of secondary school studies certificate or international exams validated by the The Catholic University of Manizales (UCM).
Those having dual nationality, including the Colombian nationality, must include only their Colombian nationality and their identification number issued in Colombia in their application form. For those who include a different nationality and are admitted by the UCM, a Student Visa will be required.
National or foreign students graduated abroad will be able to enroll in the university only if holding one of the following international secondary school studies:
the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program (IB), the German International Abitur (SELECTA) examination, the French Baccalaureat (BAC), The European Baccalaureate (EB), the Swiss Baccalaureate (MATURA), Scholastics Assessment Test (SAT) or American College Testing (ACT).
Students who did their secondary school studies in one of the countries of the Andrés Bello Agreement (Bolivia, Cuba, Chile, Ecuador, Spain, Panama, Paraguay, Peru or Venezuela) or endorsed by the Embassy of Colombia in their country of residence, will also be able to enroll in the university.
In the case of being admitted and not holding the international baccalaureate diploma recognized by the National Ministry of Education (MEN) or The Andrés Bello Agreement, international students must present the holding title validated by The MEN at the Academic Registrar Office before starting their second semester, according to the procedure shown below:

Foreign high school graduates

Colombian citizens, obtaining a secondary school studies certificate abroad and who wish to continue their studies in Colombia, should request the validation of their secondary school studies developed abroad at the MEN www.mineducacion.gov.co. This procedure consists on the duly legalization of the secondary school studies certificate issued in a foreign country. This is an essential requirement to develop university studies in Colombia.

This requirement is held in the following Colombian Nation Standards:

Decree 921, May 06-1994- Under Resolution 631 of 1977- Resolution 6751 of 1977-Resolution 2985 of 1993.

The Procedure

This procedure is done at the MEN’s Legal Office, which is located at the second floor of the Ministry of Education, office 220 PBX: 2222800 phone ext. 1210. The procedure takes between 20 to 25 days and the following documents must be submitted:

Fill out the applicant form addressed to the Legal Office.
Original Certificate authenticated in the country of residence before the Colombian consul and before the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Address: transversal 17ª N° 98-55, phone: (+571) 6221923 (Bogota).
Legible photocopy of the secondary school studies certificate and its corresponding translation in Spanish.
Legible photocopy of the ID, Colombian ID, or foreign identification number card issued by the Colombian Law and foreign passport.
The foreign applicants admitted in the UCM programs must apply for a student visa before starting classes.
The applicant must have taken a scholastic aptitude test in the country where their secondary school studies were developed and that are a requirement for higher education in their country of origin (equivalent to the Colombian Scholastic Aptitude Test Pruebas Saber icfes.gov.co). If the applicant’s country of origin does not have such test, the requirement is to take the The Colombian Scholastic Aptitude Test Pruebas Saber (for further information please contact relacionesinternacionales@ucm.edu.co)
In case of being admitted in any undergraduate program at the UCM, the following documents must be apostilled in the country of origin:

Secondary school studies graduation certificate.
International Examination results or International baccalaureate certificate included in the application process.
The scholastic aptitude test taken in the country where the applicant developed his secondary school studies (equivalent to the Colombian Scholastic Aptitude Test Pruebas Saber)

*In the case of being part of the Hague Agreement 1961. This procedure must be done through diplomatic channels, by following these steps:

Positioning of title validating seals and signatures done by the supervising authority, which regulates the educational activity in the country where the title is given.
Positioning of validating seals and signatures given by the Foreign Affairs Ministry of the institution, which is granting the title.
Duly authentication of the documents granted by the consul or the Colombian diplomatic agent in the country of origin.

Essential requirements for foreign students

If you are a foreign applicant and are admitted by the UCM but do not have Colombian Citizenship, we hereby inform you that according to the decree 4000 of 2004 and under resolution 4700 of 2009 issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, having a student Visa, or another kind of visa allowing studies, is mandatory and must be submitted to the office of Academic Registrar and sent to the e-mail relacionesinternacionales@ucm.edu.co
Submit photocopies of your current and updated passport, student visa and foreign identification card to the office of Academic Registrar, in order to be able to start classes at the UCM before the end of the second week of classes.

Admission Requirements for Foreign Students: Graduate Programs

Each program at the UCM requests a series of requirements and special documents that are specific of each discipline to its applicants interested in a specialization or master degrees. Due to the abovementioned, the applicant must log in the page ucm.edu.co and according to their interest choose the desired program. In the UCM web page, they will find each program, enrollment dates and the corresponding procedure to be followed in order to request admission.
There are some common graduate program mandatory documents all applicants must take into account:
Undergraduate certificates or a certification of the applicant’s graduation nomination (understood as the situation in which the student is pending for the graduation ceremony) in the field of knowledge requested by each graduate program at the UCM.
Photocopy of the diploma or graduation certification apostilled by the Hague* which certifies the developed professional education. Once the diploma is apostilled, the candidate must do the validation of the title of the developed professional studies at the Colombian Ministry of Education.

*In the case of coming from a country, which is not part of the Hague agreement of 1961, it must be done through diplomatic channels considering the following steps:

Positioning of seals and signatures acknowledging the title given by the supervising authority who regulates the educational activity in the country granting the title.
Positioning of acknowledging seals and signatures provided by The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country where the institution granting the title belongs to.
Authentication of documents given by the Colombian consul or diplomatic agent in the foreign country.

If you are a foreign citizen and are admitted in the UCM, we hereby inform you that according to the decree 4000 of November 2004 and to the resolution 4700 of November 2009, issued by the Ministry of Foreign Issues, holding a student visa or another kind of visa allowing you to study is mandatory and it must be submitted to the Academic Registrar Office and sent torelacionesinternacionales@ucm.edu.co
Submit photocopies of your current and updated passport, student visa and foreign identification card to the office of Academic Registrar, in order to be able to start classes at the UCM before the end of the second week of classes.