page_title: University of Mindanao
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: University of Mindanao / History
caption_attribution_description: English: UM History
context_page_description: The University of Mindanao is the largest private, non-sectarian university in Mindanao located in Davao City on the Southern Philippine island. Established in 1946, the University of Mindanao has ten branches spread over thirteen campuses in Southern Mindanao. It is currently an Autonomous Status per CEB Resolution No. 076-2009 with Category A per CMO No. s. 2009 standing accredited by Commission on Higher Education. Its Accountancy, Computer Engineering and Information Technology programs are Centers of Development and its Business Administration, Criminology and Teacher Education programs are recognized as Centers of Excellence by CHED. It is the largest private university in Mindanao and hailed as the institution with the second highest number of programs accredited by PACUCOA in the country today.
context_section_description: In the midst of rebuilding the ruins of World War II, Atty. Guillermo E. Torres constructed the institution that would provide the education for socially, morally, economically knowledgeable, productive and responsible citizenry of the country.
  Mindanao Colleges was incorporated on July 27, 1946. During the first year of operation, classes were held in four rented rooms of the Borgaily Building along San Pedro Street in Davao City. Thirteen teachers were hired and there were 381 enrolees. Dr. Efigenia C. Occeña was the Acting Coordinator. The permitted courses were originally the six year complete Elementary Course, two-year Secondary Course (1st and 2nd years), two year Elementary Teacher Certificate, two-year Associate in Commercial Science, and two-year Associate in Arts. To accommodate the increasing number of Enrolees, the Board of Trustees decided to buy Club Royale along Legaspi Street and renovated to suit classroom requirements. New parcels of land were purchased along Bolton and Bonifacio Street which is the present location of the main campus and Embassy Area respectively. The University's influence erected more with the establishment of the Mindanao Collegian, the first free campus paper in Mindanao. It became the training grounds of the Davao newspaper men, a lot of them front liners of the city's local publications up to this date.
  Foreign linkages were sparked when Atty. Torres left for the US for a sponsored study tour in May 1955. These bondages broaden the UM's scope and help it gear up for more challenging global competitiveness. Some of them were the University on the Air (1971); Sister University agreements with the John Dewey International University Consortium of America, New York City and the Fongchia College of Engineering and Business of Taipei, Taiwan.
  The Open Education Program in the early 70s enabled the institution to help the poor but deserving college undergraduates employed in the business and factory sites and self-employed to earn a college education. From being a humble Mindanao Colleges in Bolton, it blossomed into the University of Mindanao on December 21, 1966 and has spawned 10 more branches to the outlying province in 1948 in Digos, Bangoy, Peñaplata, Tagum (1950), Guianga (1952), Ilang- Tibungco (1951), Panabo (1951), Bansalan (1962), Cotabato (1959), Toril and a sprawling learning ground in Matina. UM is the first non-sectarian university in Mindanao.
caption: The first Buildings located in Bolton St. Davao City
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