A private institution founded in the capital city, Bogota, in 1967, Universidad EAN offered the first course in Technical Business Administration in Colombia. Known as the School of Business Administration until 2006, it retained the initials EAN (Escueld de Administration de Negocios) when raised to university status that year.
Billing itself as the "University of the Entrepreneurs", it has given this conventional aspiration a distinctively green tinge by its strong focus on sustainability, promoting "sustainable entrepreneurship" and endorsing the goals of the UNESCO Sustainable Development programme.
By 2027, it aims to be the "benchmark institution for education and research in sustainable entrepreneurship", with the 16 disciplines offered to its students focussed on engineering, business and six modern languages – English, French, Portuguese, Italian, German and Spanish.
Its aspirations are embodied by the Legacy EAN building under construction in Bogota, planned to be the "first self-sustaining building in South America", a 10-storey structure clad in recyclable "wonder frame" and built on the "cradle to cradle" principles of sustainable construction. Existing campus structures include a mural installed in December 2018 which was made entirely from recycled plastic
It has partnership agreements with more than 80 universities in Colombia and overseas, leading to programmes which include working in rural Colombian communities with Portland State University, USA and another Bogota institution, Universidad Antonio de Narino, and a soil contamination exchange with the University of Texas.
The electric vehicle laboratory is run in partnership with Mitsubishi Motors, while UEAN in 2019 became the first Colombian university to issue diplomas with blockchain technology.
