Summary

SAI Colombia conducted an Analysis of Higher Education in Colombia for the period from 2021 to 2025. The review revealed persistent challenges in the accessibility, quality and financial sustainability of higher education. Despite an increase in the number of students from 2.44 million in 2021 to 2.72 million in 2025 the country lags behind the OECD average by 21.1 percentage points. Regarding the quality of education, results from state examinations demonstrate ongoing issues. Between 2021 and 2025, the national average score on the Saber Pro exam was 48.5% and on the Saber TyT exam it was 45.9%, both below half of the maximum possible score. Furthermore, men scored on average 4.63 points higher than women on Saber Pro and 1.42 points higher on Saber TyT. According to auditors' estimates, revenues of public universities grew from 7.9 trillion pesos (2.5 million USD) in 2019 to 14.2 trillion pesos (4.5 million USD) in 2024, with an average annual growth rate of 13%. However, revenue growth does not resolve structural funding problems. About 50% of resources come from state transfers, while own-source funds account for approximately 37%. This structure indicates a limited capacity for self-financing among public universities. At the same time, according to SAI estimates, resources are distributed unevenly among universities. Four higher education institutions — the National University of Colombia (Universidad Nacional), the National Open and Distance University (Universidad Nacional Abierta y a Distancia), the University of Antioquia (Universidad de Antioquia), and the University of Valle (Universidad del Valle) which make up 12% of all public universities, receive 48% of national and 37% of regional funding. Disparities in funding distribution require strengthening allocation criteria. The audit also identified 130 financial irregularities totaling 176,753 million pesos (56.4 USD) of which about 82% are related to procurement, indicating the need to strengthen oversight, control, and monitoring of public funds allocated to higher education.