The National University of Colombia (UNAL) is a Colombian public university at the national level, founded under the government of Santos Acosta on September 22, 1867. It is the most important and representative university in Colombia due to its tradition, prestige, quality and selectivity. It is linked to the history and academic production of Latin America. Its flagship campus, the Ciudad Universitaria de Bogotá, is the largest in the country and has 17 buildings declared a national monument. It has offices in Medellín, Manizales, Palmira, Arauca, Leticia, Tumaco, San Andrés and La Paz (Cesar).

Its student population is 49,890 students, of which 41,340 are undergraduate and 8,550 postgraduate; which makes it one of the Colombian academies with the largest number of students. It also has a total of 2,939 active faculty members, half with doctorates. It has 94 undergraduate programs, 97 specializations, 38 medical and dental specialties, 148 master’s degrees, and 54 doctorates distributed in its 8 locations.

On April 9, 2010, the Ministry of National Education granted it High Quality Institutional Accreditation for 10 years in all its locations. Numerous classifications have placed it as the best in the country. It is member of the Colombian Association of Universities, the Ibero-American Postgraduate University Association (AUIP) and the Ibero-American network of universities Universia.