🇨🇴 How to apply to university in Colombia

There is no central application system: you apply to each institution directly. Programmes usually start: Two a year at most universities: first semester (about February) and second semester (about August).

Checked on 20 October 2026 against the official sources listed below.

The essentials

Application system: None — apply to each institution on its own website.
When programmes start: Two a year at most universities: first semester (about February) and second semester (about August).
International applicants: International students apply to each university directly; a foreign bachiller diploma needs convalidation by the Ministry, and universities decide whether to accept foreign exam results in place of Saber 11.
Language: Spanish.

Key dates

Each university runs its own admission calls. The Universidad Nacional's call for semester 2027-01, for example, took registrations from 6 July to 24 August 2026, with results on 9 October 2026; check each university for its next call.

The dates for the next intake haven't been published yet. We add them once the official source does.

Your checklist

The usual steps for an international student applying to a bachelor's in Colombia, in order. Tick them off as you go — your ticks stay in this browser, with no account.

1.Choose universities and read each one's admission call and requirements for applicants schooled abroad.
2.Have your foreign bachiller diploma convalidated by the Ministry of National Education — online and free, decided within 15 working days.
3.Check whether the university needs Saber 11 or accepts your foreign exam; ICFES can recognise an equivalent exam taken abroad, free of charge.
4.Register in the university's admission call and pay the fee.
5.Sit the university's admission test, where it has one.
6.If admitted, enrol with apostilled, translated documents.
7.Apply to Colombia's foreign ministry (Cancillería) for the student visa.

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Next steps

Sources

Written by CollegeMatcher in our own words from these official pages, checked on 20 October 2026. Dates change every year.

ICFES — Reconocimiento de exámenes presentados en el exterior