The Universidad of Zulia insertion in higher education internationalization process

Abstract

The University of Zulia (LUZ) is an autonomous institution, created in 1891. The university was closed by the national government in 1904, and it reopened in 1946. Since then, the university has been subject to the political country conditions: dictatorship/democracy/current evolution. The internationalization of higher education was not an issue of importance along most of the 20th century, in Venezuela, as in most of the Latin America countries. However, the universities established agreements with institutions from different countries, especially the United States and Europe. The academic mobility of professors and students was also oriented to these countries, as well as to some Latin American such as Mexico, Argentina and Brazil, considered more developed. The University of Zulia was part of that process. Currently, the political conditions impose new challenges on university internationalization. The data obtained at the Universidad of Zulia and its institutional documents, point out some relevant facts: the University tries to keep many active agreements with other institutions; there is no clear idea of internationalization and its role in the development of the institution; the University of Zulia is making internationalization a way to obtain financing through international students.