Pontifical Catholic University of Chile

Key facts

Checked against the sources listed at the bottom of this page on 7 November 2026.

About the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile

The university was opened on 21 June 1888 when the Archbishop of Santiago, Mariano Casanova, published the decree creating it. Joaquín Larraín Gandarillas is described as its founder and first president.^[1] In 1930 it was canonically erected and became legally linked to the Holy See.^[1]

It has five campuses: four in Santiago and one in Villarrica.^[2] The Casa Central, the historic main building, is at Av. Libertador Bernardo O’Higgins 340 in central Santiago.^[7] The university reports 3,400 academics and an institutional accreditation of 7 years, the maximum the CNA grants.^[2]

How is the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile ranked?

In the QS World University Rankings 2027, published on 18 June 2026, UC is 119th in the world, down from 116th the year before according to the daily Emol, which also reports it as first among Chilean universities.^[9] The university states the same position on its own admissions site: number 1 in Chile, number 2 in Latin America and number 119 worldwide in QS 2027.^[2]

One position is one view; rankings differ by publisher and year. How we compile rankings. See the full table on our Chile page.

What can you study at UC Chile?

The 2026 tuition page lists more than 60 undergraduate programmes, from Law, Medicine, Engineering, Architecture and Psychology to Theology, Music, Journalism and Astronomy. Several teaching degrees are offered in Santiago and in Villarrica.^[4] The university’s English site also lists postgraduate degrees, PhD programmes, semester or year exchange, short-term programmes, dual degrees and Spanish courses.^[7]

Foreign visitors who come for one or two semesters use the exchange route; the international office page speaks of 70 study programmes for that purpose.^[10]

How much does UC Chile cost in 2026?

These are the “arancel anual 2026” figures shown on the university’s programme pages, in Chilean pesos per year.^[3] The tuition for each entering year is set by a rector’s decree and paid in ten equal monthly instalments from March.^[4] We did not find a separate tuition rate for foreign students on the pages we read; they show one amount per programme. We also did not read the 2027 amounts.

Enrolment fee and other costs

Every selected applicant pays a single enrolment fee, the Derecho de Matrícula Único, which is CLP 195,000 for 2026 and the same for all programmes. Students with pre-assigned Gratuidad are exempt.^[4] A signed education-services contract with a guarantor is also required.^[4]

Gratuidad and state aid

UC takes part in all state student benefits; a student who holds Gratuidad (the state funding of tuition) can study at UC with it.^[5] The ministry lists as a condition Chilean nationality or permanent or temporary residence; with temporary residence, upper secondary school must also have been completed in Chile.^[11] Check your own status with the ministry before you count on it.

How do you apply to UC Chile as a foreign student?

There are two main routes for degree studies.

• Special route for secondary studies abroad: open to applicants who completed at least the last two years of secondary school outside Chile, have no prior university studies, and finished the last year abroad no more than three years before applying. Applicants with at least three years abroad who miss this rule can appeal to the Admissions Technical Commission.^[5] Entry is offered twice a year, for the March and the August start.^[5] Architecture asks for a grade average of at least 5.0, and Kinesiology, Medicine, Nutrition and Dietetics, Dentistry and Psychology for at least 5.5, or the equivalent on the grading scale of the country of origin; all teaching degrees have pre-admission requirements.^[5] The documents include a transcript of the last three years with the grading scale, a sworn declaration of no university studies, a class-rank certificate (or a statement that the school issues none) and the school-leaving certificate or the Chilean secondary-school licence. Passport or ID of the home country is accepted from foreign applicants.^[5] The application has three steps: online registration, online application with payment of the application fee, and document upload.^[5]
• Centralised admission (PAES): UC belongs to the national access system.^[12] A foreign applicant who completed secondary school entirely abroad can sit the PAES after the Ministry of Education has recognised the studies; the foreign school grades are then not used in the weighted score, and their weight is spread over the test results.^[6]

Visa: after acceptance, apply at the Chilean consulate in your country of residence; once in Chile, register the visa and apply for the national identity card.^[10] That text is on the exchange page of the admissions site, so confirm the procedure for degree studies with the university.

We give no deadlines here because they change every year. UC publishes the open programmes and entry periods on its admissions site.^[5]

Which language do you need?

The admission documents and procedures we read are published in Spanish, and we found no stated Spanish certificate level for degree entry.^[5] Exchange students can take Spanish courses at UC, depending on their programme.^[10] Ask the admissions office what level your programme expects before you apply. For a PAES applicant, the reading test (Competencia Lectora) is part of the weighted score.^[6]

More about studying in Chile

• Chile: best universities
• Cost of Studying Abroad
• International Student Scholarships
• University Ranking Methodology

More university profiles in Chile

• Federico Santa María Technical University
• University of Chile
• University of Concepción