In order to serve from the fields of teaching, research and extension, was born the University of the North in 1956, thanks to the enthusiastic initiative of the priests of the Society of Jesus, who fought with determination to realize this desire for young northerners: a university in the service of culture, science and development, but with a full commitment to the Christian faith. This project was echoed and could realize, thanks to the generous support of Mrs. Berta Gonzalez Astorga, who donated the land on which it erected the then University of the North. With an enrollment of 100 students and 20 teachers, he began classes on March 25, 1957, under the wing of the Catholic University of Valparaiso. So it remained until 1964, when it was recognized by the Ministry of Education, achieving full autonomy and becoming the third Catholic university in the country and the eighth traditional public vocation.