On Thursday 1st September 2005 the Technological University of Pereira celebrated its accreditation as an Institution of Excellence by the Ministry of Education.  The ceremony was conducted in the presence of the Minister of Education, Dr. Cecilia María Velez White, the Principals of the country’s private and public universities, the trade unions, representatives of the government, municipal, military and ecclesiastic authorities and the academic community as a whole. 

In the event the Minister of Education made official the status of the university as an Institution of Excellence, a title given validity through resolution No. 2550. The Principal of the university, the engineer Luis Enrique Arango Jiménez, presided over the ceremony in which U.T.P.became the first university in the region to receive such an honour.

This historic event was marked by an evening of emotive speeches.  The Minister of Education drew attention to the responsibility of the country’s universities to engage with government educational reform policies.  More particularly she emphasised the important contribution still to be made in terms of outreach and quality of education that has nevertheless made great progress.  Higher Education figures have risen from 17%-24% throughout the region.

For his part the Principal of the university, engineer Arango Jimenez made it clear “that the Institutional accreditation granted to the UTP is not a mission accomplished; it is not an end in itself, on the contrary, it is a great responsibility and a huge challenge for the future.  The quality control systems are, after all, planned within a logic of continuous improvement and require unstinting commitment if they are to be met.