The University of Castilla–La Mancha (Spanish: Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha; UCLM) is a public university in the Spanish autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha. It has four main campuses in Albacete, Ciudad Real, Cuenca and Toledo, as well as additional university sites in Almadén and Talavera de la Reina. The rectorate is located in Ciudad Real.
The university was formally created by Law 27/1982 of 30 June 1982. Existing university centres in four provinces were incorporated into the new institution in 1985, and teaching began in the 1985–1986 academic year. In the 2024–2025 academic year, it had 28,204 students enrolled in official programmes: 24,084 undergraduates, 2,511 master's students and 1,609 doctoral students.
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History
Although the University of Castilla–La Mancha was established in 1982, university education in the territory of the present-day autonomous community dates back to the late fifteenth century. The University of Sigüenza was established in 1489, while the College of Santa Catalina, founded in Toledo in 1485, developed into the Royal University of Toledo in 1520. Another university operated in Almagro from the sixteenth century.
The present university was formally created by Law 27/1982 of 30 June 1982. In 1985, existing university centres in the provinces of Albacete, Ciudad Real, Cuenca and Toledo were incorporated into the new institution, which began operating in the 1985–1986 academic year.
Javier de Cárdenas y Chávarri chaired the university's management commission from 1982, followed by Isidro Ramos Salavert from 1983 to 1988. In March 1988, criminal-law professor Luis Arroyo Zapatero became the university's first elected rector, serving until 2003. He was succeeded by Ernesto Martínez Ataz, Miguel Ángel Collado Yurrita and José Julián Garde López-Brea.
Campuses and faculties
UCLM has a decentralised structure comprising four main campuses in Albacete, Ciudad Real, Cuenca and Toledo. The Ciudad Real campus includes an additional university site in Almadén, while the Toledo campus includes the site in Talavera de la Reina.
The university also operated the Puertollano Centre for University Studies, which opened in November 2002 and was discontinued in 2012. Before its establishment, UCLM had already organised summer courses and a master's programme in the city.
Notable alumni
Danny Vargas Serrano (born 1979), member of the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica