University of San Buenaventura Cali

Universidad de San Buenaventura Cali is a private Franciscan university in southwestern Colombia. Its history dates back to the founding of the Colegio Mayor de San Buenaventura in Bogotá in 1708 by the Franciscan Order, officially approved in 1747 by royal decree. 

The Cali campus was established on 24 August 1970 with programmes in law, education and accounting, initiated at the historic San Joaquín Convent in the city centre, before relocating in 1980 to a larger campus in La Umbría, Pance.

Situated in the southern sector of Cali, near the upper valley of the Cauca River, the university’s main campus features tennis and football courts, volleyball and basketball facilities, an Olympic‑standard pool, and several academic buildings. These include a large library, state‑of‑the‑art labs for engineering, design and multimedia, a Mac room, creativity and research labs, and modern classrooms.

The university is organised into five faculties: architecture, art and design, economic and administrative sciences, law and political sciences, human and social sciences, and engineering, and includes a school of sports. Within each faculty are different departments, offering approximately 23 undergraduate programmes, more than 40 graduate and continuing education options and a growing doctoral portfolio.