List of colonial universities in Latin America

The list of universities established in the viceroyalties of the Hispanic America comprises all universities established by the Spanish Empire in Latin America from the Discovery of America in 1492 to the Wars of Independence in the early 19th century.

The transfer of the European university model to the American overseas colonies represented a decisive turning point in the educational history of the continent:

Nothing remotely resembling a university existed in the New World before Europeans arrived and settled there. Yet by the end of the eighteenth century, numerous universities and other institutions of higher education could be found in North, Central and South America. They had not been invented de novo; they were implants from the European university tradition and its stocks.

The Christian mission of the Indians and the increasing demand for skilled hands in the administration of the rapidly growing colonial empire made the Spanish colonists realize the need to offer a university education on American soil. The foundation of a colonial university required, following the medieval tradition, either a papal bull (or papal brief) or a royal privilege granting the right to confer academic degrees to the students. Usually a bestowment from both clerical and secular authorities was sought and achieved. Universities were all subjected to the king's supervision, only San Nicolas in Bogotá held the status of a private university.

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