The National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) UNAM is the most important public university in Mexico and among the most prominent in Ibero-America. Re-founded in 1910 as the National University of Mexico, building upon the Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico of 1551, it gained its autonomy in 1929, becoming the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

Today, in accordance with its Organic Law, UNAM’s mission is to provide education, conduct research, and disseminate culture and its benefits to the population. To this end, it offers 3 high school programs, more than 130 undergraduate programs, and more than 40 postgraduate programs in all areas of human knowledge across more than 35 colleges and schools. In addition, it conducts research in physical and mathematical sciences, engineering, earth sciences, health and life sciences, social sciences and humanities, and the arts in more than 50 centers, institutes, programs, and special projects. Through an extensive network of museums, concert halls, theaters, publishing programs, and public spaces, it projects Mexican culture both nationally and internationally.

UNAM is the repository of numerous national collections and services, integrated throughout its history or created directly within the university. For example, UNAM houses the National Library of Mexico, the National Periodical Library, the National Seismological Service, the National Astronomical Observatory, the Coordination of Oceanographic Platforms, the National Tide Gauge Service, the National Biodiversity Pavilion, and numerous paleontological and geological collections, as well as historical documentary archives.

In Mexico, UNAM has a presence in practically all of the country’s states, and in addition to its main campus in Mexico City, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it maintains campuses in Baja California, the State of Mexico, Guanajuato, Michoacán, Morelos, Oaxaca, Querétaro, and Yucatán.

By its very nature, UNAM maintains a vigorous international program of exchange, mobility, project development, and academic collaboration, which includes direct representation through Mexican Studies Centers and Extension Schools in the United States, Canada, Spain, China, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Cuba, and Latin America.

The UNAM community comprises more than 105,000 high school students, over 230,000 undergraduate students, more than 33,000 graduate students, over 46,000 academic staff members, and more than 29,000 administrative staff members. Collectively, the university produces approximately one-quarter of all research conducted in Mexico and has led to the creation of numerous research centers, disciplinary groups, and academic societies throughout the country, outside of its own structure, playing a fundamental role in the development of modern Mexico.