Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara - Guadalajara, Mexico

The Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara (UAG), was founded in 1935 following agitated conflicts with the government over autonomy and against the establishment of a socialist curriculum. Today, with offerings in design and architecture, natural sciences, engineering, business administration, social sciences, healthcare, and the humanities, the UAG is one of the top five universities in Mexico and houses nearly twenty thousand students.

The main campus is located just outside Guadalajara and there is ample public transportation to and from the city’s historic downtown. It has a wide array of services including a bookstore, counseling center, wireless internet access, cafeterias, coffee shops, banks and ATMs, mechanic shop, television and radio station, photography studio, editorial group, gyms, sporting facilities, and even a football team, Los Tecos, which won the Mexican first division championship during the 1993-94 season.

Accreditation

The Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara is accredited by the Secretaría de Educación Pública, the Mexican Ministry of Education.

Teaching Model

The Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara is designed on the American semester model and uses US standards for grading, contact hours and credit hours. UAG courses are taught mainly in Spanish, with some courses taught in English.

Visiting students have access to flexible semester curriculum options. Students interested in learning and improving their Spanish may take language classes at the UAG’s Centro Internacional de Idiomas (CII). Depending on their level of Spanish, they also have the option of enrolling directly into courses offered by the UAG to its Mexican student body. Disciplines include business, psychology, international relations, communications, and education. Students can also combine the Spanish language classes offered by CII with the immersion courses with Mexican students.

Programs Hosted

Mexico study abroad programs

Host City Description

Guadalajara, Mexico’s second largest city, is cosmopolitan yet surprisingly welcoming given its population of approximately 4 million. Founded in 1542, Guadalajara boasts a beautiful colonial downtown marked by its twin-towered cathedral, western Mexico’s most important industrial center, and a plethora of top-notch museums, restaurants, nightlife, shopping and cultural activities. Visitors may also benefit from the small-town feel of picturesque suburbs such as Zapopan, Tlaquepaque, and Tonalá, lined with pleasant plazas, cafés, art galleries and shops selling traditional Mexican art crafts.

Guadalajara is also centrally-located, allowing visitors to explore central Mexico or catch a flight at the city’s international airport to dozens of destinations in Mexico or Central
America. Wonderful cities such as Guanajuato, San Miguel de Allende, Puerto Vallarta and Pátzcuaro are only a few hours away by bus from Guadalajara.

The city is also known for many of Mexico’s most iconic traditions. Mexico can thank Guadalajara for the creation of tequila, mariachi music, the jarabe tapatío dance, charreadas or Mexican rodeos, and the sombrero, among others. Likewise, the Instituto Cultural de Cabañas, a former 19th century orphanage in downtown Guadalajara, is home to several majestic murals by acclaimed muralist José Clemente Orozco, including his gorgeous El Hombre de Fuego (Man on Fire) in
the main dome.

All in all, Guadalajara combines the best that a modern and vibrant city has to offer with the old-time charm, friendliness, and calm of traditional Mexico.