Casa Central Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile

The Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (UC Chile; ) is a traditional

private university Private universities and private colleges are higher education institutions not operated, owned, or institutionally funded by governments. However, they often receive tax breaks, public student loans, and government grants. Depending on the count ...

based in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

. It is one of the thirteen Catholic universities existing in Chilean university system and one of the two

pontifical universities A pontifical university or athenaeum is an ecclesiastical university established or approved directly by the Holy See, composed of three main ecclesiastical faculties (Theology, Philosophy and canon law (Catholic Church), Canon Law) and at least o ...

in the country, along with the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso. Founded in 1888, it is one of

'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). Pontifical Catholic University of Chile has a strong and long-standing rivalry with Universidad 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.

Campuses

UC Chile has four campuses in

and one campus in Villarrica. The campuses in Santiago are: * Casa Central (in downtown

) * San Joaquín (in Macul Commune of Greater Santiago) * Oriente (in

Ñuñoa Ñuñoa (; from Mapudungun ''Ñuñohue'', "place of yellow flowers") is a communes of Chile, commune located in the Northeastern zone of Santiago, northeastern sector of Santiago de Chile, Santiago, the capital of Chile. Bordered by Providencia, C ...

Commune of Greater Santiago) * Lo Contador ( in Providencia Commune of Greater Santiago) 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.

History

UC Chile was founded on June 21, 1888, by the Archbishop 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 was

Monsignor Monsignor (; ) is a form of address or title for certain members of the clergy in the Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" can be abbreviated as Mons.... or Msgr. In some ...

Joaquín Larraín Gandarillas, and at the very beginning, the university only taught two subjects,

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

and

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

. Since it is a Pontifical University, it has always had a strong and very close relationship with the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...

. On February 11, 1930,

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI (; born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, ; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939) was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 until his death in February 1939. He was also the first sovereign of the Vatican City State u ...

declared it a

pontifical university A pontifical university or athenaeum is an ecclesiastical university established or approved directly by the Holy See, composed of three main ecclesiastical faculties (Theology, Philosophy and canon law (Catholic Church), Canon Law) and at least o ...

, 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 the Universities of the Rectors' Council of Chilean Universities, and although it is not

state-owned State ownership, also called public ownership or government ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, property, or enterprise by the national government of a country or state, or a public body representing a community, as opposed to ...

, a substantial part of its budget is given by state transfers under different programs. UC Chile's 18 faculties are distributed through four campuses in

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 Jesuit Saint Alberto Hurtado and

Eduardo Frei Montalva Eduardo Nicanor Frei Montalva (; 16 January 1911 – 22 January 1982) was a Chileans, Chilean political leader. In his long political career, he was Minister of Public Works, president of his Christian Democratic Party (Chile), Christia ...

, a Chilean 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. Critics, including

alumni Alumni (: alumnus () or alumna ()) are former students or graduates of a school, college, or university. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for groups of women, and alums (: alum) or alumns (: alumn) as gender-neutral alternatives. Th ...

, have written about the university's "lack of concern" for the suicide of students, an attitude they contrast to the university's staunch opposition to abortion. The student union of the university issued a communique expressing feelings of guilt over the issue and the need to take charge.

Collaborations

The Department of Industry and System Engineering is engaging Stanford Technology Venture Program of

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

on a collaboration on innovation and technology ventures. In December 2011, the schools of engineering of PUC and the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

signed an agreement to establish a dual graduate degree in civil engineering and the geological sciences, which now extends to other departments in both schools. In April 2013, UC Chile and the

also signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen scholarly engagement and expand their long-standing relationships. 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.

World rankings

UC ranks among the first 10 Latin-American Universities according to the Shanghai ranking, UC appears top in two subject rankings: it ranks around 101–150 in Economics and Management and around 151–200 in Mathematics 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, the

QS World University Rankings The ''QS World University Rankings'' is a portfolio of comparative college and university rankings compiled by Quacquarelli Symonds, a higher education analytics firm. Its first and earliest edition was published in collaboration with '' Times ...

(in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023) and the Times Higher Education University Rankings (2019 and 2020).

Faculties, institutes, centers and subjects offered

* College UC ** Bachelor of Natural Sciences and Mathematics ** Bachelor of Social Science ** Bachelor of Arts and Humanities * Faculty of Agronomy & Forest Engineering ** Agronomy ** Forest Engineering * Faculty of Architecture, Design, and Urban Studies ** School of Architecture *** Architecture ** School of Design *** Design ** Institute of Urban and Territorial Studies *** Urban Planning * Faculty of Arts ** School of Visual Art *** Visual Art ** School of Theater *** Acting ** Institute of Music *** Music * Faculty of Biological Sciences ** Biology (with an

academic major An academic major is the academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits. A student who successfully completes all courses required for the major qualifies for an undergraduate degree. The word ''major'' (also called ''con ...

in "Natural Resources & Environment" or " Bioprocesses") ** Biochemistry ** Marine Biology * Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences ** Commercial Engineering ** Economics Institute ** School of Administration * Faculty of Social Sciences ** Institute of Sociology *** Sociology ** School of Anthropology *** Anthropology *** Archaeology ** School of Psychology *** Psychology ** School of Social Work *** Social Work * Faculty of Communications ** School of Journalism *** Journalism *** Audiovisual Direction Program *** Advertising ** Institute of Media Studies * Faculty of Law ** Law * Faculty of Language and Literature ** English Language and Literature ** Hispanic American Linguistics and Literature ** Center for the Study of Chilean Literature (CELICH) * Faculty of Education ** Early Childhood Education ** General Education ** High School Education * Faculty of Engineering ** School of Engineering *** Dept. of Computer Science *** Dept. of Engineering and Construction Management *** Dept. of Structural and Geotechnical Engineering *** Dept. of Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering *** Dept. of Transportation and Logistics Engineering *** Dept. of Industrial and Systems Engineering *** Dept. of Mechanical and Metallurgical Engineering *** Dept. of Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering *** Dept. of Electrical Engineering *** Dept. of Mining Engineering ** School of Construction *** Construction * Faculty of Philosophy ** Institute of Philosophy *** Philosophy ** Institute of Aesthetics *** Aesthetics * Faculty of Physics ** Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics *** Astronomy ** Department of Physics *** Physics * Faculty of History, Geography, and Political Science ** Institute of History *** History ** Institute of Geography *** Geography ** Institute of Political Science *** Political Science * Faculty of Mathematics ** Mathematics ** Statistics * Faculty of Medicine ** School of Medicine *** Medicine ***Odontology ***Phonoaudiology ***Kinesiology ***Nutrition and dietetics ** School of Nursing *** Nursing and Obstetrics * Faculty of Chemistry ** Chemistry ** Chemistry and Pharmacy * Faculty of Theology ** Theology * Institute for Biological and Medical Engineering ** Biomedical Engineering * Institute for Mathematical and Computational Engineering ** Data Science Engineering * School of Veterinary Medicine ** Veterinary Medicine

Notable institutes and centers

* Center of Studies of Social Undertakings * Instituto Milenio para la Investigación en Depresión y Personalidad – MIDAP * Núcleo Milenio Research Center in Entrepreneurial Strategy Under Uncertainty

Notable alumni

Architecture

* Alejandro Aravena (2016

Pritzker Architecture Prize The Pritzker Architecture Prize is an international award presented annually "to honor a living architect or architects whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision and commitment which has produced consisten ...

winner) * Smiljan Radic * Emilio Duhart * Fernando Castillo Velasco * Juan Grimm, Landscape architect

Art and literature

* Egon Wolff (playwright) * Roberto Matta (Surrealist painter) * Jorge Díaz (playwright) * Diamela Eltit (author) * Paula Escobar (journalist and academic) * Laila Havilio (sculptor) * Paloma Valdivia (author and illustrator)

Economics

* Miguel Kast (former governor of the Central Bank of Chile. Member of the Chicago Boys group) * José Piñera *

Joaquín Lavín Joaquín José Lavín Infante (born 23 October 1953) is a Chilean politician of the Independent Democratic Union (UDI) party and former mayor of Las Condes, in the northeastern zone of Santiago. Formerly Lavín has also been mayor of Santiag ...

* Sebastián Edwards (professor, UCLA Anderson School of Management) * Sebastián Piñera * Felipe Larraín * Ricardo Caballero
Ford International Professor of Economics - MIT

Politics

(Former President of Chile) * Sebastián Piñera (Former President of Chile) * Adolfo Zaldívar * Arturo Frei Bolívar * Ena von Baer (Former Minister) * Fernando Castillo Velasco * Hernán Larraín * Fernando Flores * Jaime Guzmán *

* Osvaldo Andrade * Radomiro Tomic * Tomás Jocelyn-Holt * José Antonio Kast * Giorgio Jackson

Religion

* Alberto Hurtado (Jesuit. Chile's second saint) *

Raúl Silva Henríquez Raúl Silva Henríquez Salesians of Don Bosco, SDB (27 September 1907 – 9 April 1999) was a Chilean prelate of the Catholic Church, a Cardinal (Catholic Church), cardinal from 1962. He served as Archbishop of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San ...

(Archbishop of Santiago de Chile) Both studied law at the university.

Science

* Francisco Claro Huneeus * Héctor Croxatto Rezzio (member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences) * Joaquín Luco Valenzuela (first Chilean to specialize in neuroscience) * Juan de Dios Vial Correa (former Pontifical Academy for Life president) * Juan Carlos Castilla (marine life expert) * Leopoldo Soto Norambuena (former President of the Chilean Physics Society and Fellow of the Institute of Physics, UK) * Nibaldo Inestrosa Cantin (neurobiologist) * Neva Milicic Müller (psychologist) * Rafael Vicuña Errázuriz

Knowledge transfer, service and consultancy

* DICTUC SA (a group of 40+ consultancies leading in engineering, management and innovation

* Salud Clinica U

* Hospital of the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile * Mega UC Health Centres (maternity)

References

External links

Official web prospectus

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pontifical Catholic University Of Chile Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, Catholic Church in South America Pontifical universities Nursing schools in Chile Universities and colleges established in 1888 Catholic universities and colleges in Chile

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

1888 establishments in Chile