The Catholic University of Mozambique (Portuguese: Universidade Católica de Moçambique, UCM) is a university in Mozambique.
UCM was founded on August 10, 1996 by the Mozambican conference of Bishops[1] to make higher education available to central and northern Mozambique. Before UCM's creation, higher education in Mozambique was only available in the capital, Maputo.[citation needed] Campuses are located in Beira, Chimoio, Cuamba, Nampula, Pemba, Quelimane and Tete.[1] The rector is Prof. Dr. Padre Alberto Ferreira.[1]
The initiative to create the Catholic University of Mozambique (UCM) came up during the peace negotiations in Rome between FRELIMO and RENAMO. In June 1992, negotiations were deadlocked; later, the mediator, Dom Jaime Pedro Gonçalves, Archbishop of Beira, presented the idea to establish a quality university for the center and north of Mozambique and to correct the unequal concentration of higher education institutions in Maputo. Subsequently, this led to the signing of the peace agreement on October 4, 1992, between FRELIMO and RENAMO.
The Catholic University of Mozambique was established as an institutional compromise, and was officially founded in 1995 (Boletim da República, Decreto N° 43/95, September 14). In August 1996, UCM opened its first faculties in Beira and Nampula.
In 2000, UCM had an enrollment of 50 students; by 2005, this had increased to 405 students; and by 2008, UCM had an enrollment of 4,497 students. To date, over 7,000 students have graduated from UCM. In 2008, 64% of enrolled students were male and 36% were female.
UCM belongs to the Episcopal Conference of Mozambique. UCM is governed by the chancellor, the Archbishop of Beira, the rector, the vice-rector for finance and administration, and secretary general, and the vice-rector for academic affairs and development.
UCM currently has six faculties in four provinces:
UCM opened faculty delegations in Chimoio (Economics and Law), Nampula (Economics), Beira (Information Technology), Tete (Economics) and Quelimane (Information Technology and Law). Each faculty has a faculty board composed of the dean, pedagogic director and administrator. Centres only have directors.
As a private institution, UCM is funded by tuition fees, sometimes by private and public scholarships. In 2008, tuition fees for a three-year bachelor program were fixed at US$1,200; tuition fees for an additional year to obtain a Bachelor of Honour’s degree were set at US$1,500, the same as the annual tuition fees for the medicine faculty.
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