The National Rosario Castellanos University will open a new academic unit in 2027 at "Casa Tlalpan," a property owned by Arturo "El Negro" Durazo, former head of the Police of the then Federal District, President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo reported. In this regard, Alma Xóchitl Herrera Márquez, rector of the institution, detailed that the new campus will offer five undergraduate degree programs and spaces for sports, cultural, and academic activities. Its establishment responds to the demand for higher education in this Mexico City borough, where currently 5,289 students must travel to other boroughs to attend university.
During the presentation of the project at President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo's morning press conference, Herrera Márquez detailed that the call for admission to the new academic unit was published from July 3 to 7 of this year and registered 3,067 people. The rector noted that Tlalpan ranks third in enrollment demand for Rosario Castellanos University, after Iztapalapa and Gustavo A. Madero.
President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo during her press conference from the National Palace this Friday, October 16, 2026. Photo: Screenshot
The academic unit will fully begin operations in 2027 with five undergraduate programs: Psychology; Law and Criminology; Administration and Commerce; Tourism; and Economics and Sustainable Development. Herrera Márquez explained that the educational offerings may later be expanded with programs such as Environmental Sciences, since the campus will be located in a wooded area, where the Bosque Escuela (School Forest) project is also being developed.
The complex will include classroom buildings, a sports area, a gymnasium, an open-air forum, a reading garden, and an oral trials courtroom. There are also plans to make use of an auditorium belonging to the Mexican Academy of Sciences.
The project also contemplates the installation of a high school campus of the Ministry of Public Education (SEP), with the aim of integrating upper secondary and higher education in a single space. Construction will be carried out by the Ministry of Infrastructure and the budget will come from the Multiple Contributions Fund, according to what was stated during the presentation.
For her part, Mónica Fernández Balboa, director general of the Institute to Return Stolen Goods to the People (INDEP), highlighted the growth of the National Rosario Castellanos University, which went from three academic units in 2019 to six units and six satellite campuses in 2023. She reported that this year, 28 academic units are in the process of being created in 20 states, compared to the eight established in 2025.
The institution currently has an enrollment of 122,000 students, who participate in in-person and distance learning programs. Of that total, 63% are women, mostly young people.
Fernández Balboa detailed that the university offers distance education in 1,516 municipalities across the country and has 1,957 teachers, 60% of whom hold postgraduate degrees. She added that the location of academic units in municipalities with high vulnerability for young people is part of an "addressing the causes" strategy, with the goal of expanding educational opportunities and reducing the risk of their involvement in criminal activities.
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