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Students participated in an induction day at the Science and Technology Building.

The university received 340 students this semester from 15 different countries.

Mexico, Germany and France are the countries from where most students come from.

At the Science and Technology building auditorium they were received by the Deputy Director of ORI, Professor Sebastian Ayala.

According to figures provided by the Deputy Director of the Foreign and Inter-Institutional Relations Office (ORI, for its Spanish acronym) Sebastian Eslava, they received 59 Mexican, 62 German, 56 French, as well as students from Chile, Argentina, Canada, New Zealand and United States. Additionally they received 105 Colombian students from universities in other Colombian cities. 

The group of students that come to finish their undergraduate and graduate academic work received a warm welcome from ORI. Alcira Roa, of ORI was pleasantly surprised to see how the program has such an increased participation, as last semester they received only 120 students and now this has doubled. This shows an interest to come to this university,” said Roa. 

In this manner UNal opens its doors to these students which come mainly from Germany, Mexico and France. “Almost every year we have a large group from Mexico, but this year the country with most visiting students is Germany,” she said. 

“We open our doors to students that come to study at our diverse university programs such as undergraduate and graduate Law, Human Sciences, Medicine, and Engineering programs; UNal is one of the universities which better keeps the legacy of Colombian culture; we could say that our institution is like a small Colombia,” said Eslava. 

Among the students that will take some of these classes there are some Colombian students which had gone to other countries and decided to come back and begin their doctoral studies and continue with other life projects. 

According to Roa, many just come for a semester but decide to stay longer. “Some come for only six months and end up asking for an extension to continue studying here because they like our academic program.”

“Another thing foreign students like is the culture, the kindness of the people and Colombian folklore and that is why they decide to stay,” she said. 

During the next week the visitors will have an induction program and will tour the campus to become cognizant of the installations and prepare to begin classes.