About UFM
Mission statement
The mission of Universidad Francisco Marroquín is to teach and disseminate the ethical, legal and economic principles of a society of free and responsible persons.
Characteristics
Founded in 1971 in Guatemala City. Private, secular, coeducational, nonprofit. Awards the following degrees: bachelor, associate, profesorado (for secondary school teachers), licenciatura (licentiate), magister (artium and scienciae), M.D., D.D.S, doctorate.
Academic disciplines
Architecture, business administration, clinical nutrition, dentistry, economics, education, international relations, law, medicine, political studies, public accounting, psychology, social sciences, bachelor of arts program, film school.
Entrepreneurship in ideas
UFM's founders developed a foundational document, (Philosophy/Ideario) based on classical liberal philosophy, which encompasses all aspects of institutional structure—organization, administration, teaching activities, and relationship to society. Although a nonprofit organization, the university is run as an entrepreneurial venture, subjecting the decisions and activities of authorities and teachers to the law of supply and demand. Flying in the face of traditional academia, UFM does not offer tenure, board members are business people and entrepreneurs, department budgets must be balanced, and to fulfill its social role as educator, the university does not engage in the political and social issues of the day so that it may focus on essential themes that transcend these issues in time. All students at UFM, regardless of academic discipline are taught the causes and origins of the wealth of nations.
Read UFM's philosophy statement here.
Multiplier effects
The importance of UFM's programs is palpable in Guatemala. UFM students, faculty, and alumni have gone on to establish a policy think tank, three public policy pressure groups, and the first public choice center in Latin America. Their newspaper columns appear daily in the Guatemalan press and they dominate the influential sphere of talk radio. UFM graduates have mastered the art of taking an abstract idea and putting it into simple language that is culturally relevant and understood by all. Because of their efforts, any public debate now must take into account a well-documented classical liberal point of view.
Mission possible
Members of the classical liberal community formed by UFM have been directly responsible for reforms that have had a significant, tangible impact on individual liberty in Guatemala. Sometimes they have participated in reforms as outsiders, sometimes from key positions on the inside. Today, UFM is a unique and durable venture in the world of ideas; one that transcends Guatemala's borders.