History

A tour of milestones and institutional evolution

Our History

The University of the Armed Forces ESPE has its origin when on June 16, 1922, the “School of Officers of Engineers” was created, by Decree of the President of the Republic, Dr. José Luis Tamayo, published in Official Gazette 521; in view of the need to technify the commands in the specialties of engineering and artillery, on October 22, 1936, during the Presidency of Federico Páez, the name was changed to “School of Artillery and Engineers”. When it expanded its academic curriculum and leveled it with the other Ecuadorian universities, in 1948 it was called the Technical School of Engineers. In the face of the country’s university crisis and the needs of the Armed Forces, in 1972 General Guillermo Rodríguez Lara, President of the Republic, opened the doors for civilian students to enter.

Due to the growth of the student population, faculties, institutes and centers were created to meet the needs of the country; so in 1977 it became the Army Polytechnic School (ESPE), its configuration and academic study programs were reviewed by the National Chamber of Representatives, which when enacting the Law of Universities and Polytechnic Schools in May 1982 included it with all justice and law, in the list of centers of higher education, merits that were reinforced by the enactment of the Political Constitution on August 10, 1998 and the promulgation of the Higher Education Law in Official Gazette No. 77 of May 15, 2000.

On June 13, 2001, the Constitutional President of the Republic, Dr. Gustavo Noboa, approved the new Statute of the Army Polytechnic School, by Executive Decree No. 1585, which is published in Official Gazette No. 349 of June 18, 2001.

The decree of creation ratified that the degrees granted by the ESPE were equivalent to those granted by other universities and polytechnic schools. At the same time, to meet the study needs of military personnel and their families, distance careers in administrative sciences were included, through support centers that were opened in the vast majority of the country’s provinces. The population of military and civilian students grew considerably and so did the academic prestige and professional capacity of its graduates; being in 1996 recognized by the National Council of Universities and Polytechnic Schools (CONUEP).

When the constitution approved by the Ecuadorian people in 2008 came into force, the National Assembly issued a new Law on Higher Education in which the transformation of the Polytechnic School of the Army ESPE into the Polytechnic University of the Armed Forces “ESPE” was established.

In 2010 it was evaluated by CONEA and was awarded the Certificate of Institutional Accreditation recognizing it in category “A”.

We can observe how the greatest transformation is generated for this house of studies; In accordance with the Twenty-Second Transitory Provision of the Organic Law on Higher Education (LOES) published in the Supplement to the Official Gazette No. 298 of October 12, 2010, it is provided that as of the entry into force of the law, the Army Polytechnic School (ESPE), the Comandante Rafael Morán Valverde Naval University (UNINAV) and the Higher Aeronautical Technological Institute (ITSA) will be integrated. to form the University of the Armed Forces ESPE, once the Council of Higher Education (CES) approves the Statute, on June 26, 2013.

In 2016, the Council for Evaluation, Accreditation and Quality Assurance of Higher Education (CEAACES), through Resolution No. 388-CEAACES-SO-11-2016, determined to place it in Category “A”.

The strategic vision of the ESPE is based on academic excellence as an essential instrument for the training of its students, supported by scientific research processes, with parameters of innovation, entrepreneurship and ethics of service to the nation. These factors have consolidated the position of the University of the Armed Forces ESPE throughout these 100 years of life as one of the leading institutions in higher education in Ecuador.

Degree

postgraduates

Military Training

Continuing Education

Degree

postgraduates

Military Training

Continuing Education

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History of the UNIVERSITY