University of Mindanao

The University of Mindanao was established in 1946 by Atty. Guillermo E. Torres, Sr. Formerly known as Mindanao Colleges (MC), its main purpose was to provide educational opportunities to Mindanao's indigenous.  MC was formally named as the University of Mindanao in December 1966, making it the first private, non-sectarian university in Southern Mindanao. 

In terms of number of program offerings and student population, UM is the largest academic institution in the Davao Region with more than 15 percent market share, and one of the top 15 in the country. Aside from its campus in Davao City, UM has seven other campuses in the provincial areas where each campus has significant autonomy in academic and operational management. Based on that autonomy, each campus has a certificate of permit to operate from the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and program accreditation from the Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities Commission on Accreditation (PACUCOA).

Key characteristics of UM's identity and culture are its vision, mission, values and core competencies that set the focus and direction of its operation. For 43 years, UM aimed to contribute to the manpower needs of Mindanao and Sulu. In 1989, the educational paradigm was modified to become transformative to serve the nation and the world. With the recent trends in internationalization and ASEAN integration, UM responded by aiming global recognition for its quality, affordable and open education which is what UM's vision implies.

Its commitment to democratizing access to education as stipulated in its mission statement captures the essence of its open education policy as one of its core competencies. Maintaining the highest standard of the academic institution function as stated in its mission statement is also its core competency. 

Despite affordability and open accessibility, UM promotes its values on excellence and core competency on quality through its continued application in the Philippine Quality Award (PQA), PACUCOA Accreditation, professional/industry-led certifications like the Philippine Technological Council (PTC) and the PCS Information and Computing Accreditation Board (PICAB), ISO certification, and CHED-initiated program and institutional quality assurance certifications like the Autonomous status, Centers of Excellence and Centers of Development and the Institutional Sustainability Assessment. In 2023, UM received the PQA Level IV recognition from the national government, the first academic institution in the country to be granted the award. It joins with the two other companies granted the same level of recognition, The United Laboratories and Toyota. The PQA is a national quality award comparable with the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in the USA and the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Excellence Model.

Vision - The University of Mindanao envisions to be a leading globally engaged university creating sustainable impact in society.

Mission - The University of Mindanao seeks to provide a dynamic learning environment through the highest standard of instruction, research, extension and production in a private non-sectarian institution committed to democratizing access to education.

Core Values

1. Excellence - We are committed to world-class customer service and quality as we excel for the mutual success of our stakeholders. We ensure that our product and services are on par with the global standards to ensure its responsiveness and impact on our stakeholders and the community and country in general.

2. Honesty and Integrity - Our organization establishes utmost trust and ensures transparency in dealing with our stakeholders. We appreciate accountability in all of our undertakings especially those that involve our stakeholders. Professionalism is at the core of our thrusts as an academic institution.

3. Innovation - We always think outside the box to be of prime service to our stakeholders, We do this by continuously introducing new programs as value added benefits to our clients.

4. Teamwork - We believe in the concept that "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts". We value the collective effort of every stakeholder through synergy, cooperation, collaboration, and 'esprit de corps' as it is integral to the success of the institution.