The Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala (USAC, University of San Carlos of Guatemala) is the biggest and oldest university of Guatemala; it is also the fourth founded in the Americas. Established in the Kingdom of Guatemala during the Spanish colony, was the most prestigious institution of higher education Central America — and the only one of Guatemala until 1954. The university tradition in Guatemala and Central America goes back to the 17th century, when the University of San Carlos was founded on 31 January 1676 by Royal Decree of Carlos II in the colonial capital of Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala.
