Meet the International Community That Joins UC Chile
People from different countries around the world join UC Chile in student, academic, administrative, and professional areas. Their contribution will enrich research, academic development, and the diversity of perspectives in an increasingly consolidated international community.
photo_camera UC Chile offers different channels for students, professionals, academics, and researchers join the teaching project. (Photo credit: Karina Fuenzalida, UC Chile Office of the Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies).
Juan Francisco Fresno auditorium welcomed the new group of international students who will join UC Chile this second semester of 2025.
This generation consists of 507 new international students from 179 universities in 31 countries, who will join various faculties, schools, and study programs at UC Chile. Most of them are participating through the semester exchange program for undergraduate and graduate students, while some are also participating through special programs, honor grants, internships, apprenticeships and other programs.
“Internationalization is a structural pillar of our educational project, to continue pushing the frontiers of knowledge, advancing in relevant areas and addressing global challenges,” said UC Chile President Juan Carlos de la Llera at the welcome ceremony. He then added, “we want UC Chile to be a place where everyone wants to be, where knowledge, cultures, and dreams are shared.”
In 2024 a steady growth in the international community in UC Chile was announced, thanks to an institutional commitment to internationalization, cultural diversity, support, and more global campuses.
The arrival of people from abroad to UC Chile is driven by various reasons, which position our university as a place for opportunities, a place for growth in the academic, professional and personal fields, marked by social commitment, innovation, and research without borders.
According to the UC Chile Direction of Institutional Analysis and Strategic Studies, by 2024, 4.6% of regular students are international students; among academic staff, the percentage ascends to 7.7%; and among administrative staff and professionals the percentage is 6.9%.
There are various ways to access the university: whether through the traditional semester international exchange programs, special global mobility programs, regular admission, job offers with an international profile, internships or apprenticeships. Today, people from all over the world are invited to be part of UC Chile.
Since 2021, with the creation of the Office of the Vice President for International Affairs (VRAI, as per its Spanish acronym), the commitment to support has been institutionalized, through areas of VRAI dedicated to supporting the International Community that arrives at UC Chile for short periods of time or on a permanent basis.
The Office of Global Mobility, with the Office of Global Learning, creates models of support with different focuses, which center on integration into society, administrative assistance in curricular processes, and advising before and during immigration, health, and formal procedures.
A gateway for international students to Chilean culture and history
Drawn by the impressive mountains, cultural richness, diversity of territories and landscapes, growth in innovation within the region, and other aspects, students from many foreign universities arrive at UC Chile every semester to grow and develop their academic and professional profiles.
At the event, Vice President for International Affairs Maria Montt spoke about the importance of a growing and engaged international community:
“Each person that joins our community is a gateway to multiple cultures, experiences, and knowledge. This semester, UC Chile is enriched as a global space with the arrival of new members from different parts of the world.”
The activity concluded with a space for conversation and with the presentation of the Folk Dance Group Almas UC, who took a journey through Chile with the traditional dances of each region, from north to south.
