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Studies completed at any public school or university are inherently recognized. Private universities and secondary schools, except for those universities which have been awarded "libre" or independent status, earn recognition for their programs of study through affiliation with a public university (a process known as incorporación) or recognition by a public entity such as the Secretariat of Public Education.

This affiliation and recognition of a private institution (or more precisely, the programs of study offered by a private institution) is referred to as reconocimiento de validéz oficial de estudios (recognition of official validity). The source of recognition of an institution's programs of study is generally indicated on official transcripts and may be confirmed by consulting reference books, such as those published by ANUIES or searching the ANUIES website.

Recognition of institutions is NOT accreditation in the U.S. tradition. Although all public institutions are recognized, there is a wide range of quality in public institutions in Mexico. Similarly, private institutions which must seek recognition through public channels for their programs, vary in quality. There are a number of educational associations which seek to improve the quality of higher education in Mexico and provide useful information about institutions.

The National Association of Universities and Institutions of Higher Education (ANUIES) publishes directories of institutions which provide information about recognition, programs of study, and institutional contact information. Most, but not all, institutions with official recognition are listed in the ANUIES directories.

Three institutions in Mexico with strong ties in the U.S., the Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey /ITESM (Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Studies) and the Universidad de las Americas (University of the Americas) in Puebla and in Mexico City have had regional accreditation in the U.S. through the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools for many years. The fact that these Mexican universities have accreditation through an organization in the U.S. sometimes raises unnecessary questions about the acceptability or recognition of the many excellent universities in Mexico which do not have accreditation through a U.S. organization. Accreditation through the Southern Association may very well be one of many indicators of the relative quality of an institution; it is not, however, the primary source of recognition for Mexican universities.

Though rankings are uncommon in Mexico, many institutions have a reputation of excellence, sometimes in specific areas. El Colegio de Mexico, for example, is well-known to be an excellent graduate-level, research institution in the social sciences. The Universidad Autonoma de Chapingo is a strong institution in the field of agricultural sciences.

The University of Texas at Austin has a great deal of collective, institutional wisdom about education in Mexico. Many of the students from Mexico who have studied in the United States in the past twenty years have been enrolled at UT. Furthermore, faculty in the Center for Mexican Studies is an excellent source of information about specific institutions in Mexico.

UT has cooperative agreements with a few institutions in Mexico. Though some of these agreements are more active than others, the existence of an agreement indicates that these are institutions of a certain caliber.

Private

Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM)
Centro de Enseñanza Técnica y Superior (CETYS)
Centro Universitario México, División de Estudios Superiores
Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México
Instituto Tecnológico de Estudios Superiores de Occidente (ITESO)
Universidad de Cuautitlán Izcalli
Instituto de Estudios Superiores de Tamaulipas (IEST) (Tampico, Tamaulipas)
Universidad Anáhuac Sur / Universidad Anáhuac Norte
Universidad de las Americas, A.C. (Mexico City)
Universidad de las Américas, Puebla (Puebla, Puebla)
Universidad del Valle de México
Universidad Iberoamericana
Universidad Intercontinental
Universidad La Salle
Universidad Panamericana
Universidad Regiomontana
Universidad TecMilenio (UTM)
Universidad Tecnológica de México (UNITEC)
Universidad Valle del Bravo

Public