| University of Talca | |
| Native Name: | Universidad de Talca |
| Established: | October, 1981 |
| Type: | Public |
| Rector: | Carlos Torres Fuchslocher |
| City: | Talca |
| State: | Region del Maule |
| Country: | Chile |
| Students: | 11,573 (2020) |
| Undergrad: | 10,529 |
| Postgrad: | 1,044 |
| Academic Staff: | 721 (2018) |
| Administrative Staff: | 379 (2018) |
| Colours: | Crimson |
| Free Label: | Campuses |
| Free: | 5 (Talca, Curicó, Santiago, Linares, Santa Cruz) |
| Nickname: | Utal; UTalca |
| Website: | www.utalca.cl |
The University of Talca (Spanish; Castilian: Universidad de Talca) is a Chilean university. It has five campuses, located in Talca, Curicó, Linares, Santa Cruz and Santiago. The Talca campus is the university's headquarters and largest campus. It is part of the Chilean Traditional Universities, the and the .
University of Talca is considered as the best public university outside Santiago by various rankings.[1] It offers ten PhD programs and 27 Master programs.[2] It was accredited for five years (2014-2019) by the Comisión Nacional de Acreditación (National Accreditation Commission).
The Universidad de Talca was founded in 1981, upon the fusion of the seats in Talca of the Universidad de Chile and the Universidad Técnica del Estado. For this reason it is known in the Chilean system as a "derivative university". In 1998, the Faculty of Engineering was founded and established in the city of Curicó, 60 km north of Talca. The university has expanded to other cities in recent years: Santiago in 2005, where a new campus was inaugurated in 2013, a Technological Institute in Santa Cruz in 2007, and a campus in Linares, in 2017.
The university has five campuses.
The university has nine faculties, three schools and six institutes.
In 2017, Times Higher Education ranked the university within the 801-1000 band globally and 31-35 in Latin America.
In the 2018 QS World University Rankings is ranked 801-1000 globally, 101-150 for under 50 universities and 79 in Latin America.[7]