EAFIT, present and future
After the birth of EAFIT on May 4, 1960, local perspectives regarding academic training in business administration changed. This foundation was itself spurred by the need for new ideas in response to profound political, social and economic tensions. Thus, in the midst of this context, 19 visionary men, together with local officials and with support from the US government, signed the charter of the School of Administration and Finance (EAF) on 17 August of the same year. In a borrowed room inside a bank in the city center, Professor Bernard J. Hargadon taught the first accounting class to 59 students enrolled in the undergraduate degree in Business Administration. Thus, the desire to provide the country with locally trained professionals in management and contributing to the nation's industrial growth became a reality.
Months later, the Institution moved to a larger building in the center. There, in 1962, the Technological Institute began work, initially offering Textile, Industrial, Mechanical Engineering, and Computer Programming courses. Finally, on August 14, 1963, the University moved to its current campus, located in the Aguacatala neighborhood in the southern part of the city.
But the desire to grow and improve was not only expressed in the area of infrastructure. Over the years, the Institution continually opened up to new fields of knowledge. In 1971 it was formally recognized as a university and subsequently comprised of four schools: Administration (1979), Engineering (1979), Sciences and Humanities (1997), and Law (1999). Continuing with its process of expansion and strengthening in the different areas of knowledge, EAFIT opened the School of Finance in 2012 and the School of Science in 2015. Additionally, the university established the first doctorate in Administration in the country in 2004. The doctoral program in Engineering began three years later. Currently, EAFIT offers 25 undergraduate degrees, around 38 certificate programs in Medellin and other cities, 47 masters' degrees, and six doctorates.