Universidad Santo Tomás de Aquino

Royal and Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas

Regia y Pontificia Universidad de Santo Thomás de Aquino
Established	1538
Founder	Pope Paul III
Rector	Last:
Location	Santo Domingo Coordinates: 18°27′43″N 69°55′01″W / 18.4620°N 69.9170°W / 18.4620; -69.9170 , Dominican Republic
Language	Latin, Spanish

Universidad de Santo Tomás de Aquino (St. Thomas Aquinas University), today Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo (UASD; Autonomous University of Santo Domingo), is arguably the first institution of higher education in the Americas. It was founded by papal bull in 1538 in Santo Domingo, in the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, present-day Dominican Republic, although it didn't have the official certification by the king of Spain until 1558. It was closed in 1801 and in 1823, being reopened as a new iteration in 1914.

History[]

Founded during the reign of Charles I of Spain, it was originally a seminary operated by Catholic monks of the Dominican Order. Later, the institution received a university charter by Pope Paul III's papal bull In Apostulatus Culmine, dated October 28, 1538. However, it did not obtained the official Privilege by Charles V to be officially recognized as a university until 1558. Thus, there is a debate on whether it is officially the first university in the Americas. Many of the first universities argue that they were the first because UASD was not yet recognized. The argument from many dominicans is that it does not matter whether the university was recognized by a foreign body or not, since the university granted higher education degrees since it was founded (starting in 1538).

Prior to its conversion into a full university, the institution had been a Studium Generate (seminary), founded in 1518 and operated by the Dominican Order.

In its structure and purpose the new university was modeled after the University of Alcalá in the city of Henares, Spain. In this capacity it became a standard-bearer for the medieval ideology of the Spanish Conquest, and gained its royal charter in 1558. In this royal decree, the university was given the name University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Universidad Santo Tomás de Aquino).

The university was closed in 1801 under the French, but reopened in 1815 as a secular institution. It closed again in 1823, during the Haitian occupation of Santo Domingo, when all students were ordered into military services.^[1]

In 1866, the government decreed the creation of the Professional Institute (Instituto Profesional), which operated as substitution of the defunct university. And on November 16, 1914, President Ramón Báez, decreed its transformation into the University of St. Thomas (Universidad de Santo Domingo), successor of the first one.^[2]

See also[]

• List of universities in the Dominican Republic
• List of colonial universities in Latin America

References[]

External links[]

• UASD Official website