Universidad Francisco Marroquin

What Universidad Francisco Marroquin does

Universidad Francisco Marroquín (UFM) is a private, non-profit secular university founded in 1971 in Guatemala City, Guatemala, with a stated mission of teaching and disseminating the ethical, legal, and economic principles of a society of free and responsible persons. The institution operates 17 faculties and schools spanning Acton MBA, Architecture, Medicine, Law, Economics, Business, Film and Visual Arts, Psychology, Dentistry, Nutrition, Education, Political Studies and International Relations, Accounting and Auditing, the Michael Polanyi College honors program, and the Graduate School, along with a doctoral program. It also maintains multiple specialized research centers — Centro Henry Hazlitt (classical-liberal economics and ethics), Centro Vernon Smith de Economía Experimental (experimental economics), Centro de Emprendimiento Kirzner (entrepreneurship), CADEP (public-decision analysis), Centro de Excelencia, and Market Trends — supported by the Biblioteca Ludwig von Mises library and associated archival collections (Henry Hazlitt, Spencer Heath, Hayek Interviews).

UFM delivers education through three physical campuses — Guatemala City (headquarters on Calle Manuel F. Ayau, zona 10), Madrid, and Panama — plus a digital footprint consisting of the New Media UFM video platform (lectures, conferences, UFM Talks), the OpenCourses UFM free-course platform, a Virtual Tour, and the recently introduced GPTs UFM custom AI tools. Cultural assets include the Museo Popol Vuh (pre-Columbian Maya collection) and Casa Popenoe. Distribution and marketing rely heavily on thought-leadership content (UFM Talks Madrid series, Business Day forum, Reason in Guatemala conference), email newsletters, social media (notably TikTok via New Media UFM), and alumni programming (Alumni UFM), rather than paid acquisition.

Commercially, UFM is funded through tuition and academic fees across degree programs, continuing-education revenue (Formación Continua, Formación Empresarial), charitable donations, and a small e-commerce merchandise stream via Tienda UFM. Pricing for tuition is not publicly disclosed; merchandise unit prices range from Q3 to Q575. The customer base is dominated by traditional undergraduate and graduate students, supplemented by a lifelong-learner segment served through OpenCourses and public programming, and an international-student segment reached through Campus Madrid and Campus Panamá. The current rector is Ricardo Castillo, succeeding Gabriel Calzada, Giancarlo Ibárgüen, Fernando Monterroso, and founder Manuel F. Ayau.

Name

Universidad Francisco Marroquin

Legal name

Universidad Francisco Marroquín

Website

https://ufm.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

1971

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Universidad Francisco Marroquín is a private non-profit university in Guatemala City teaching ethical, legal, and economic principles of a free society across 17 faculties, with campuses in Guatemala, Madrid, and Panama.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Higher Education

NAICS

Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (6113), Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (611310)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Online Nonprofit Universities (EDAHALAK)

Keywords

• Higher education
• University degree programs
• Graduate business education
• Liberal arts education
• Continuing professional education

Headquarters

HQ city

Guatemala City

HQ country

Guatemala

HQ region

Latin America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Tuition and Academic Fees: Core revenue from undergraduate and graduate degree programs across 17 faculties and schools including Acton MBA, Arquitectura, Medicina, Derecho, and others
2. Merchandise Sales: E-commerce sales through Tienda UFM offering branded merchandise including apparel, accessories, and commemorative items with prices ranging from Q3 to Q575
3. Continuing Education: Revenue from Formación Continua and Formación Empresarial programs offering professional development courses
4. Donations: Charitable donations channel for supporters of the university's mission and liberal education principles

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Universidad Francisco Marroquín is a private non-profit university offering undergraduate and graduate degree programs across 17 faculties and schools, including Acton MBA, Medicina, Derecho, Arquitectura, Ciencias Económicas, Escuela de Negocios, and others. It also provides continuing and corporate education (Formación Continua and Formación Empresarial), free online courses via OpenCourses UFM, a video lectures platform via New Media UFM, and branded merchandise through Tienda UFM, supported by a donations channel aligned with its classical liberal educational mission.

Product overview

Universidad Francisco Marroquín is a private university in Guatemala offering a comprehensive educational portfolio across multiple faculties including Business, Law, Economics, Architecture, Medicine, Psychology, and Film. The institution operates several specialized centers (Kirzner Entrepreneurship Center, Henry Hazlitt Center, CADEP), digital platforms (New Media video platform, Open Courses), cultural venues (Museo Popol Vuh, Casa Popenoe), and a merchandise e-commerce store. The university is structured around the teaching and dissemination of ethical, legal, and economic principles of a free society, with a focus on classical liberal thought.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Business Day: Annual economic forum organized by the Faculty of Economic Sciences
• Open Courses UFM
• Tienda UFM

Products and services

• Escuela de Posgrado (Graduate School) Graduate school offering master's and doctoral programs across multiple disciplines including Psychology, Law, Economics, and interdisciplinary studies for students holding undergraduate degrees.
• Acton MBA MBA program in partnership with the Acton Institute focused on entrepreneurship, free markets, and character formation for business professionals and graduate students.
• Programa de Doctorado Doctoral program offering research-based terminal degrees for students pursuing advanced academic careers across multiple disciplines at UFM.
• Formación Continua Continuing education program offering professional development courses for working professionals seeking to update skills and knowledge.
• Formación Empresarial Corporate training program offering executive education and business courses designed for organizations and business professionals.
• Tienda UFM Online merchandise store selling university-branded products including apparel, accessories, drinkware, office supplies, and commemorative items, with shipping within Guatemala.

Quantifiable outcome

• 216 graduates in May 2026 cohort with 101 graduating with honors
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Reason FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAnnual collaboration on 'Reason in Guatemala' event, a three-day conference focusing on freedom, free markets, and rule of law. The event addresses challenges of liberty in Latin America including economics, drug war, media, rule of law, and trade.
• LGBTQ for LibertyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-host of Reason in Guatemala event, focusing on explaining challenges of freedom and libertarian topics in Latin America.
• Mont Pelerin SocietycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBertrand de Jouvenel was a distinguished member of Mont Pelerin Society, an organization founded to bring together classical liberal thinkers of the 20th century. UFM maintains intellectual alignment with this think tank.
• Acton InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSamuel Gregg, Director of Research at Acton Institute, delivers lectures at UFM on topics of economic liberty, justice, and natural law theory.
• Instituto Fe y LibertadminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint tribute event for Dr. Armando de la Torre, recognizing academic contributions and shared commitment to faith and liberty principles.
• Prosperity LabminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCollaborative initiative for prosperity and economic freedom research and dissemination, with both Spanish and English versions of the program.
• Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUFM participates in GEM research project providing data and analysis on entrepreneurship in Guatemala.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Universidad de las Hespérides: Spanish university founded by Gabriel Calzada, a former UFM rector (per management team data). Shares UFM's classical liberal mission and Spanish-language focus, making it the closest direct peer for ideological positioning, though smaller in scale.
• ITAM (Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México): Private Mexican university renowned for economics and quantitative programs, with a similar emphasis on free-market economic thinking. Comparable to UFM in size and Latin American positioning as a private economics-focused university.
• CIDE (Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas): Mexican public research university specialized in economics and public policy with similar CADEP-like policy research focus. Comparable graduate-school and economics-research positioning to UFM's specialized centers.
• George Mason University: US public university home to the most prominent Austrian economics department in the world (featuring Nobel laureates like Vernon Smith). Most directly comparable institution intellectually, given UFM's Vernon Smith Center and Austrian-economics orientation.
• Hillsdale College: US liberal arts college with a strongly classical liberal mission and a robust free online education program (Hillsdale College Online Courses) — directly paralleling UFM's combination of ideological niche and open-course digital outreach.
• Universidad Torcuato Di Tella: Argentine private research university with one of the strongest economics departments in Latin America. Comparable scale and positioning as a private, economics-anchored Latin American university with international recognition.

Broad incumbents

• Universidad de los Andes: Top-ranked Colombian private university with a much larger scale and broader portfolio. Serves as the regional benchmark for private higher education in Latin America that UFM competes against for top students and faculty.
• Universidad Católica de Chile: Chile's leading private university with strong economics, law, and medicine programs and significant research output. Represents the broader incumbent benchmark for private Latin American universities aspiring to research excellence.

Regional players

• IESA (Instituto de Estudios Superiores de Administración): Venezuelan business school historically strong in economics and management. Comparable in mid-tier scale and economics focus, though primarily serving Venezuela rather than directly competing with UFM in Guatemala.
• Universidad del Desarrollo: Chilean private university of comparable mid-tier scale with a similarly diversified academic portfolio and active donor engagement. Operates in a different geography but matches UFM in institutional size and breadth.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/newmediaufm
• TikToktiktok.com/@newmediaufm
• Xx.com/ufmedu
• Facebookfacebook.com/ufmedu
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/universidad-francisco-marroquin-guatemala

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries26 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Universidad Francisco Marroquin