The Ana G. Méndez University (UAGM / AGMU) is a private university system with its main campus in San Juan, Puerto Rico that participates in the Puerto Rico Space Grant Consortium.
History Creation In 1941, Ana G. Mendez, Alfredo Muñiz Souffront, and Florencio Pagán Cruz founded Puerto Rico High School of Commerce (PRHSC) in Rio Piedras.
In 1949, the Puerto Rico Junior College (PRJC) was established in Cupey. It became the first college to offer two-year degrees in Puerto Rico. The PRHSC was later renamed to PRJC, and the Puerto Rico Junior College Association was created to oversee its campuses.
In 1949, it received accreditation from the Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, with an enrollment of 820 students.
After much expansion during the 60s with new buildings like a Student Center in Cupey Campus and enrollment of 2700 students across the two schools, in 1968, the PRJC established its third campus in Valle del Turabo in Gurabo, with an initial enrollment of 207 students.
After the inauguration of the Gurabo Campus in 1968, the Puerto Rico Junior College Association decided to change its name to the Ana G. Méndez Educational Foundation.
The Gurabo Campus changed its name to Colegio Universitario del Turabo in 1972, as it started to offer bachelor's degrees. The next year, a program of Doctorate in Education was created, a collaboration between the foundation and the University of Nova.
On 25 August 1974, Ana G. Mendez resigned from the Board of Directors of the Foundation. On 26 September of the same year, the Foundation named Jose F. Mendez Gonzalez as President.
During the 70s, the system was growing; by 1975, the enrollment in the PRJC was 5,691, and the enrollment in the Universidad del Turabo was at 4,445. It created multiple programs, such as the Centro de Estudios Televisados (CET), which served people who couldn't get to the university campus. In 1979, the Master Institutional Plan was created, which itself created plans for new campuses of PRJC and Turabo, and also the creation of another university that could offer bachelor's degrees.
Expansion
In 1980, the PRJC Cupey Campus was changed into the Colegio Universitario Metropolitano, becoming the second campus that offered bachelor's degrees in the system.
In 1981, the Colegio Universitario del Turabo started to offer graduate programs, and changed its name to Universidad del Turabo (most commonly known as Turabo).
In 1983, Middle States accredited it the Special Educational Service Program or Programa de Servicios Educativos Especiales in Spanish and received the Program Excellence from the National University Continuing Education Association.
In 1985, the Colegio Universitario Metropolitano changed its name to the Universidad Metropolitana or UMET. It also inaugurated the Jayuya Campus by PROSEE. Also, the PRJC inaugurated the Cabo Rojo Campus and Coamo Campus. In March of the same year, the system inaugurated Canal 40 (WMTJ-TV), with the CET program, it had classes through the program that started on the 22 of April, with 112 students.
In 1986, UMET inaugurated a new campus in Aguadilla through PROSEE. Turabo also inaugurated a new campus in Yauco, and PRJC also did in Yabucoa.
In 1987, the Foundation became the first private university institution to collaborate in an agreement with the University of Puerto Rico. Also, Turabo inaugurated a campus in Cayey.
In 1988, UMET started to offer master's degrees.
In 1990, PRJC Rio Piedras moved to a new campus in Carolina and in 1992, changes their name to Colegio Universitario del Este (CUE).
In 1991, Turabo estableshes their School of Engineering.
On the 15 of July 1993, the Board of Directors decided to legally change the Foundation to the Fundación Educativa Ana G. Méndez, Inc. From then on, the system came to be known as Sistema Universitario Ana G. Méndez or SUAGM.
In 1995, UMET was selected as a Model of Excellence from the National Science Foundation.
In 31 of July 1996, with the Puerto Rico Tourism Company and the Colegio Universitario del Este, the International School of Tourism and Hotel Administration was established.
In 1998, Turabo inaugurated a new campus in Manati, which later moved to Barceloneta.
In 2001, Turabo estableshes their first online master's program in the School of Business.
In 2002, UMET inaugurated a new campus in Bayamon. In the same year, Turabo inaugurates a new campus in Isabela.
In 2003, SUAGM inaugurated their first campus in the Continental United States in Metro Orlando in Florida, this campus and all campuses in the United States, are branch of all three major universities (UMET, Turabo and Colegio Universitario del Este).
In 2005, Turabo inaugurated a campus in Ponce.
In 2006, SUAGM inaugurated the second campus in South Florida because of the high Hispanic population.
In 2010, SUAGM inaugurated a campus in Tampa Bay.
In 2012, SUAGM inaugurated the Capital Area Campus in Maryland.
In 2013, SUAG estableshed their online campus.
In 2015, SUAG established a campus in Dallas.
In 2016, the Board of Directors named Sr. Jose F Méndez González as president emeritus and the President of SUAGM.
Restructuring and Unification
On January 2, 2019, Metropolitan University, University of Turabo and Universidad del Este merged into a single university of campuses to form Universidad Ana G. Méndez.
In early 2020, the Yauco Campus was permanently closed because of the conditions of the campus after the 2019–20 Puerto Rico earthquakes. Later, it was announced that the Maryland campus was also getting closed because of the restructiring and the unification.
In January 2021, it was announced that the Isabela campus would also be closed because of the restructuring and the unification.
On December 15, 2023, the American Veterinary Association (AVMA) Council on Higher Education (COE) granted UAGM, Gurabo Campus' Doctor of Veterinary Medicine program a Letter of Reasonable Assurance, authorizing the School of Veterinary Medicine to admit the first cohort for the first, and only, degree of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in the history of Puerto Rico. If the university meet the council's reasonable assurance performance standards, the AVMA-COE will grant the university's School of Veterinary Medicine Provisional Accreditation status, allowing graduates from the first cohort and all others thereafter to sit for the International Council for Veterinary Assessment (ICVA) North America Veterinary Licensing Examination (NAVLE).
The first 80-student cohort's White Coat Ceremony was held on Saturday, September 28, 2024, on the premises of the School of Veterinary Medicine and future Veterinary Teaching Hospital grounds at UAGM, Gurabo campus. Campuses The Ana G. Méndez University system has campuses in the following cities in Puerto Rico and the mainland United States.
Active Campuses Campus Former name Location Satellite Campus Refs Ana G. Méndez Online Online Cupey Campus Universidad Metropolitana San Juan, PR Gurabo Campus Universidad del Turabo Gurabo, PR "Sobre Nosotros" (Spanish). Universidad Ana G. Méndez, Recinto de Gurabo. Retrieved December 27, 2019. Carolina Campus Universidad del Este Carolina, PR "Recinto de Carolina" (Spanish). Universidad Ana G. Méndez, Recinto de Gurabo. Retrieved December 27, 2019. Ponce Campus Ponce, PR Gurabo Campus"Photo herein, dated August 2019. Cabo Rojo Campus Cabo Rojo, PR Carolina Campus "Photo herein, dated January 2010. Barceloneta Campus Barceloneta, PR Gurabo Campus Aguadilla Campus Aguadilla, PR Cupey Campus Santa Isabel Campus Santa Isabel, PR Carolina Campus Bayamon Campus Bayamon, PR Cupey Campus Jayuya Campus Jayuya, PR Cupey Campus Yabucoa Campus Yabucoa, PR Gurabo Campus Cayey Campus Cayey, PR Gurabo Campus Dallas Area Campus Ana G. Méndez University System Dallas, TX "Dallas Area Campus". Ana G. Méndez University. Retrieved December 27, 2019. Metro Orlando Campus Ana G. Méndez University System Orlando, FL "Metro Orlando Campus". Ana G. Méndez University. Retrieved December 27, 2019. South Florida Campus Ana G. Méndez University System Miami Lakes, FL "South Florida Campus". Ana G. Méndez University. Retrieved December 27, 2019. Tampa Bay Campus Ana G. Méndez University System Egypt Lake-Leto, FL "Tampa Bay Campus". Ana G. Méndez University. Retrieved December 27, 2019.
Former Campuses Campus Year of Shutdown Location Satellite Campus Reason Refs Yauco Campus 2019 Yauco, PR Carolina Campus Structural Building Issues Isabela Campus 2021 Isabela, PR Gurabo Campus Restructiring and Unification Capital Area Campus 2020 Wheaton, MD Restructiring and Unification "Our DC Campus". Ana G. Méndez University. Retrieved December 27, 2019.
Gurabo campus (formally University of Turabo)
The Gurabo campus, formally Universidad del Turabo or more commonly known as "el Turabo" was established in 1972. In 1974 it earned accreditation from the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools and the Puerto Rico Higher Education Council.
In 2004, it began the doctoral program in Environmental Sciences and the advent of the Strategic Plan for Scientific Research. Today, enrollment exceeds 15,000 students of which over 450 are doctoral level.
In 2018, the National Science Foundation announced a partnership between the University of Turabo and the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source at Cornell University (CHESS).
It offered academic studies from technical certificates to doctorates degrees in seven schools: Engineering, Science and Technology, Health Sciences, Education, Business and Administration, Design and Architecture, and Social Sciences.
The Gurabo campus consists of two central campuses —main and Navarro— alongside a series of island-wide satellite campuses. The main campus covers with a diversity of open spaces, malls, modern and historic structures, and a healthy distribution of amphitheatre-and-boutique common study/collaborative/collective spaces/areas. The university also hosts a comprehensive sports programme complete with its respective gymnasia, weight room, track & field arena, swimming pool, baseball fields, tennis complex, basketball and volleyball courts, and a series of fountains and gardens to elevate enlightenment to the fullest — "Había sequía en el Turabo y ahora se acabó la sequía. Ganamos". The campus' academic offering is organized across seven academic divisions:
Liberal Arts Health Sciences Science and Technology Engineering, Design & Architecture Naturopathic Medicine School of Veterinary Medicine Business, Tourism & Entrepreneurship
Museums and libraries The central university library is located at the main campus in Abelardo Díaz Alfaro Hall. It hosts the campus' central repository and circulation of information both analogue and digital, distributed over the structure with two computing centres spanning the main floor. The Vice-chancellorship of Information Resources is located on the building's upper east side, the stairways leading to the top floor midway canvasing the entire width and wide reflecting the history culture and soul of Cariba'sIn the historical archives of Manuel Zeno Gandía he shows that the aboriginal name of our islands is not "Borinquen", "Boriquén" or Borikén, as is commonly thought —but Cariba. The historical reserve is maintained as a private collection at a library in Bayamón. society. Also on the upper floor there are five special collections reading rooms altogether encompassing: The Edgardo Rodríguez Juliá Room, Francisco Manrique Cabrera Room, García Passalacqua-Acosta Room, Ivonne Acosta Lespier Room, and José Luis González Room. From time to time, Abelardo Díaz Alfaro Hall propagates its walls with exhibitions from faculty and students alike. The works of David Méndez Pagán, the current rector, have been exhibited in Abelardo Díaz Alfaro's hall.