Universidad Nacional de Asunción

About Universidad Nacional de Asunción

UNA was established under Paraguay’s Law of Secondary and Higher Education on 24 September 1889, with its official inauguration scheduled for 1890. Its original structure included law and social sciences, medicine and related fields, and mathematics. The institution now operates as an autonomous public university with its own legal personality, assets, academic governance, and authority to award qualifications. The university is decentralized academically. Its 14 faculties administer their own programs, entry routes, calendars, charges, and student-facing procedures within the wider UNA framework. The principal campus is in San Lorenzo, while several faculties and other university operations are based in Asunción or additional cities. This structure gives UNA broad national reach but makes faculty-level verification essential when comparing programs. UNA combines teaching with research, extension, innovation, and public service. Its institutional structure includes research centers and specialized facilities, while individual faculties support work in areas ranging from computing and engineering to health, agriculture, law, and the natural sciences. The Hospital de Clínicas is both a teaching institution and a referral center within Paraguay’s health system. Prospective students should therefore evaluate the exact faculty and campus, not just the university as a whole, because learning environments and practical opportunities differ materially across programs.

UNA does not present one universal undergraduate admissions process. Entry is managed primarily by the faculties, and requirements can differ by program, site, and applicant category. Current 2026 faculty materials show the use of admission courses, entrance examinations, limited places, and, in some cases, direct-admission or transfer procedures. Applicants must follow the calendar and rules published by the faculty offering their chosen course. Typical documentation in current faculty guidance includes an application, identity documentation, and a secondary-school certificate or academic record validated through the required Paraguayan processes. The Faculty of Nursing and Obstetrics, for example, asks 2026 applicants for an original study certificate endorsed by the Ministry of Education and Sciences and the UNA Rectorate. Its guidance separately recognizes passports or migration-recognized identity documents for foreign applicants. These requirements are faculty-specific examples, not automatic rules for every course. International degree-seeking applicants should contact the target faculty before submitting documents to determine legalization, recognition, migration, and language requirements. Exchange students follow a separate route: UNA’s international office indicates that candidates are considered by the receiving faculty and that incoming students must comply with applicable Paraguayan migration rules. Because 2026 entry periods vary, applicants should not rely on a single university-wide deadline.

UNA offers undergraduate and postgraduate education through academically distinct faculties. Its official undergraduate directory spans disciplines including health sciences, engineering, agricultural sciences, chemistry, natural and exact sciences, economics, law, humanities, social sciences, nursing, dentistry, veterinary science, and technology. The available credential, curriculum, duration, schedule, and teaching site must be checked on the relevant faculty page because these details are not standardized across the university. Postgraduate provision includes specializations as well as explicitly named master’s and doctoral programs. For example, the Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences lists master’s study in areas such as biological sciences, mathematics, statistics, physics, biotechnology, project management, and production engineering, together with doctoral study in mathematical and other exact and natural sciences. These examples demonstrate the level of provision but should not be treated as a complete 2026 inventory. Academic quality oversight involves both university governance and Paraguayan higher-education bodies. Program authorization and accreditation are program- and site-specific, meaning that accreditation held by one course or campus should not be generalized to another. Students should confirm the current authorization, accreditation period, delivery mode, and study plan for their intended course. Spanish is the practical default for university information and instruction; applicants needing another teaching language should obtain written confirmation directly from the faculty.

Key Highlights

• Public, autonomous university founded in 1889
• Organized into 14 faculties with locations in San Lorenzo, Asunción, and other Paraguayan cities
• Teaching, research, extension, and public-service functions are embedded in the institution’s mandate
• Hospital de Clínicas supports medical education and serves as a public referral center

Student Life & Environment

Student experience is distributed across the San Lorenzo campus, Asunción-based units, and regional sites. San Lorenzo contains much of UNA’s academic infrastructure, but students enrolled elsewhere should not assume that every central-campus service is available locally. Faculty sites may have their own libraries, laboratories, study areas, dining facilities, student organizations, and administrative support. The Central Library in San Lorenzo provides free information services, physical and electronic materials, home lending for eligible users, an online catalogue, user training, electronic books, and academic databases. It coordinates a wider university library network, which is particularly useful in an institution divided among numerous faculties. Access to some resources requires recognition as an internal university user. International exchange is possible, subject to faculty selection and available places. UNA’s international guide states that visiting students from foreign universities may study for a semester in courses offered through its faculties. Mobility applicants must coordinate academic choices and documentation with the relevant unit. Students should ask their faculty directly about scholarships, fee exemptions, food services, health support, sports, cultural activities, accessibility, and student representation, since official evidence shows that provision and procedures can be faculty-specific rather than uniform across UNA.

Location & Surroundings

The database places UNA in Asunción, reflecting the institution’s name and the presence of university units in the capital. However, the principal university campus and Rectorate are in San Lorenzo, within the Asunción metropolitan area. UNA’s international guide describes that campus as approximately 12 kilometres from Asunción and 15 kilometres from Silvio Pettirossi International Airport in Luque. San Lorenzo is the center of gravity for much of the university’s teaching, research, library, and administrative infrastructure. The campus can be approached from the Mariscal Estigarribia and Mariscal López corridors. At the same time, several faculties or facilities operate in Asunción, Luque, and other Paraguayan cities. A student’s daily travel, nearby services, and access to central facilities therefore depend on the precise faculty and campus. Applicants should verify the address shown for their intended program before arranging accommodation or commuting. The official foreign-student guide provides orientation for the San Lorenzo campus but does not establish a university-wide housing guarantee. No current central residence inventory or standard housing price was verified, so students should request campus-specific housing guidance directly from their faculty or international office.

Costs & Career Outcomes

UNA has no single verified tuition figure that can responsibly be applied to every student. Academic and administrative charges are set and published by individual faculties, with differences by program, study load, entry process, and payment timing. For 2026 and 2026/27, official faculty pages publish separate fee resolutions. The Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences, for example, lists its own undergraduate charges, while other faculties publish different schedules. Students should obtain the current resolution for the exact faculty, program, campus, and academic period before budgeting. Paraguay’s public higher-education gratuity framework may remove eligible academic charges for students who meet its requirements, but eligibility is not universal. Current 2026 faculty decisions show approved gratuity and fee-exemption beneficiaries. Applicants should ask whether they qualify, what documents are required, and which expenses remain payable. No current university-wide accommodation, food, transport, books, or international-student budget was verified. Career preparation is likewise faculty-led. Practical training may include laboratories, clinical education, fieldwork, research, internships, or final projects, depending on the discipline. The Faculty of Engineering maintained an active job board in 2026 with graduate vacancies and paid internship opportunities, illustrating employer engagement at faculty level. This should not be read as a guaranteed placement service or employment outcome. No reliable university-wide graduate salary or placement rate was found.