Universidad para el Bienestar Benito Juárez García

The Universidad para el Bienestar Benito Juárez García (UBBJ) is a Mexican public higher-education program established in 2019 by decree of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Its creation responded to the difficulty many aspiring students face in accessing university studies because they cannot relocate to another city. The program operates through a decentralized public organism, the Organismo Coordinador de las Universidades para el Bienestar Benito Juárez García, headquartered in Pátzcuaro, Michoacán. The coordinating body is responsible for providing, developing, coordinating, and guiding higher-education services through its educational sites; determining and approving study plans and programs; and planning, executing, and evaluating academic activities. It also promotes an educational model based on service to others, the pursuit of collective well-being, and the preservation of Mexico's historical, social, and biocultural heritage. Governance involves representatives from several federal secretariats, including Public Education, Finance and Public Credit, Welfare, Foreign Affairs, Agrarian, Territorial and Urban Development, and the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples. The UBBJ thus functions as a state-owned educational brand under the Mexican federal government, with a mission to bring university education to regions that have traditionally lacked local higher-education options.

The Universidad para el Bienestar Benito Juárez García (UBBJ) was created in 2019 as a program to facilitate access to university studies for a large number of applicants who could not pursue higher education because they were unable to move to another city. The program was launched by a decree issued on July 30, 2019, by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. This decree established the Organismo Coordinador de las Universidades para el Bienestar Benito Juárez García, a decentralized public organism with its own legal personality and technical and management autonomy, headquartered in Pátzcuaro. According to the first three articles of the founding decree, the coordinating organism's functions include providing, developing, coordinating, and guiding higher-education services through its educational sites; determining and approving its study plans and programs in accordance with applicable legal provisions; and planning, executing, and evaluating its academic activities while ensuring the relevance of student training. It also promotes the establishment of an educational model based on the philosophy of service to others, the pursuit of collective well-being, and the preservation of the country's historical, social, and biocultural heritage. The administration of the UBBJ is carried out by a governing body composed of representatives from the Secretaría de Educación Pública, the Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público, the Secretaría de Bienestar, the Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores, the Secretaría de Desarrollo Agrario, Territorial y Urbano, and the Instituto Nacional de los Pueblos Indígenas. The UBBJ thus represents a federal effort to decentralize higher education and extend it to regions that have historically lacked local university options.

• Decree issued by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador creating the Organismo Coordinador de las Universidades para el Bienestar Benito Juárez García.

Public higher-education program focused on access and well-being in underserved regions of Mexico.

• Higher education services

  Provided through educational sites across Mexico.

1. 1Wikidata entry for Universidad para el Bienestar Benito Juárez Garcíawikidata.org
2. 2Wikipedia article on Universidades para el Bienestar Benito Juárez Garcíaes.wikipedia.org