Saint Thomas University (Spanish: Universidad Santo Tomás) is a Roman Catholic university located in Bogotá, Colombia. It is the oldest Colombian university, founded in 1580 by the Dominican Order. La Universidad Santo Tomás is a catholic private institution of higher education, founded on June 13th 1580, rebuilt and directed by the Dominican Preachers Order, non profit organization. The mission of the University, inspired by the humanist thought and Christian belief of Saint Thomas Aquinas, consists of promoting the integral formation of people, in the field of higher education, by means of actions and processes of teaching-learning, investigation and social projection, so that they respond in an ethical, creative and critical manner to the demands of human life and be able to contribute to the solutions to problems and needs of society and the country. It offers the service of higher Education at its headquarters in Bogota and the branches of Bucaramanga, Tunja, Medellin, and its regional centers of the OPEN and At DISTANCE modalities in many other cities throughout the country.