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         Universidad de Santo Tomas (USTA, Santo Tomas or the University) is the oldest university in Colombia, with its early origins dating back to 1580 with the arrival of the Dominican priest order to the country. It is one of the largest private high quality accredited institutions in the country, with more than 34,000 students in 5 different campuses in Bogota, Bucaramanga, Tunja, Villavicencio and Medellin, as well as through 23 Centres of Open & Distance learning programs. It was the first university in Colombia to receive multi-campus accreditation in 2016, valid for 6 years.  Its students come mostly from lower and middle income backgrounds.  The University has a very strong social impact mission and invests extensively in impact research projects.  The majority of its students follow undergraduate degree studies (87%). 
       
       
         The University is looking forward to develop a US$ 84m CAPEX plan (to be invested between 2017 and 2020), equally divided into its different sites, such that the University can modernize and standardize the different campuses to the levels of a high quality accredited institution as established in the 2016-2027 Strategic Plan. -	Promote inclusion by increasing access to quality education for lower-middle income students. 
-	Post-conflict impact. The University has a strong social mission statement and is already working in the regions with post-conflict communities. The University, as derived from the Santo Tomas de Aquino religious ethos, promotes the integral formation of the individual, with a strong academic base, complemented with compulsory social impact community work and research programs for all students, building on strong ethics. 
-	Improve quality tertiary education in Colombia. Santo Tomas, as one of the leading universities in the country, and as the first one with multi-campus accreditation, is increasing the standards of academic offering. With this Project, the university will improve infrastructure standards in the regions, it will recognize faculty qualifications (masters and doctoral degrees), and will standardize its processes in all its campus (including open and distance learning education). 
-	Regional productivity improvement: Santo Tomas is providing quality tertiary education in mid-sized cities like Bucaramanga, Tunja and Villavicencio with specific academic programs tailored for the regional needs. As over 50% of the universities are based in Bogota, this high-quality regional presence is critical for students to stay close to their cities of origin and reduce drop-out effects associated with moving to other cities for their studies.