The Universidad Nacional de Colombia topped the U-Sapiens Ranking 2025-2, followed by the Universidad de Antioquia and Universidad de Los Andes. This 30th edition ranks higher education institutions by research indices. Universidad de Los Andes rose to third place due to strengthened scientific indicators.
The U-Sapiens Ranking 2025-2, its 30th edition, ranks Colombia's higher education institutions (IES) by research indices. The Universidad Nacional de Colombia took first place, followed by Universidad de Antioquia in Medellín in second and Universidad de Los Andes in third, up from fourth.
Universidad del Valle in Cali dropped to fourth from third, while Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá held fifth. The top ten rounded out with Universidad Nacional de Medellín, Universidad Industrial de Santander, Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia (UPTC), and Universidad del Norte.
Notable shifts include UPTC in Tunja rising from 11th to 9th, Universidad de la Sabana from 13th to 11th, and Eafit improving one spot. Universidad ICESI climbed five positions, solidifying in research and graduate programs. "The U-Sapiens Ranking 2025-2 evidences a significant reconfiguration in the country's scientific competitiveness map. The institution with the most notable ascent is Universidad ICESI, which scaled 5 positions, consolidating as one of the private universities with the greatest recent impetus in research and graduate studies," the report states.
In master's offerings, Universidad Nacional leads with 134 programs, followed by Universidad de Antioquia with 127, Javeriana with 113, and Los Andes with 112. In the private sector, Pontificia Bolivariana has 100, Valle 88, and ICESI 82. "The territorial distribution also reveals notable growth outside Bogotá and Medellín, where universities like Pontificia Bolivariana (100), Universidad del Valle (88), and ICESI (82) continue expanding their offerings, boosting increasingly competitive regional graduate ecosystems," the report notes.
Institutions with the highest score increases include Escuela Militar de Cadetes 'General José María Córdova' at 21%, Universidad de Pamplona at 17%, Universidad Libre de Cúcuta at 15%, Barranquilla at 13%, and Bogotá at 11%. In privates, ICESI rose 11% and La Sabana 10%. "The standout performance also includes longstanding private institutions like Universidad ICESI (11%) and Universidad de La Sabana (10%), whose sustained growth confirms their bet on strengthening high-impact research," the report adds.