Creation In 1941,
Ana G. Mendez, Alfredo Muñiz Souffront, and Florencio Pagán Cruz founded Puerto Rico High School of Commerce (PRHSC) in
Rio Piedras. In 1949, the Puerto Rico Junior College (PRJC) was established in Cupey. It became the first college to offer two-year degrees in Puerto Rico. The PRHSC was later renamed to PRJC, and the Puerto Rico Junior College Association was created to oversee its campuses. In 1949, it received accreditation from the
Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, with an enrollment of 820 students. After much expansion during the 60s with new buildings like a Student Center in Cupey Campus and enrollment of 2700 students across the two schools, in 1968, the PRJC established its third campus in Valle del Turabo in
Gurabo, with an initial enrollment of 207 students. After the inauguration of the Gurabo Campus in 1968, the Puerto Rico Junior College Association decided to change its name to the Ana G. Méndez Educational Foundation. The Gurabo Campus changed its name to Colegio Universitario del Turabo in 1972, as it started to offer
bachelor's degrees. The next year, a program of Doctorate in Education was created, a collaboration between the foundation and the
University of Nova. On the 25, of August 1974, Ana G. Mendez resigned from the Board of Directors of the Foundation. On 26 of september of the same year, the Foundation named Jose F. Mendez Gonzalez as President. During the 70s, the system was growing; by 1975, the enrollment in the PRJC was 5,691, and the enrollment in the Universidad del Turabo was at 4,445. It created multiple programs, such as the Centro de Estudios Televisados (CET), which served people who couldn't get to the university campus. In 1979, the Master Institutional Plan was created, which itself created plans for new campuses of PRJC and Turabo, and also the creation of another university that could offer bachelor's degrees.
Expansion In 1980, the PRJC Cupey Campus was changed into the Colegio Universitario Metropolitano, becoming the second campus that offered bachelor's degrees in the system. In 1981, the Colegio Universitario del Turabo started to offer
graduate programs, and changed its name to Universidad del Turabo (most commonly known as Turabo). In 1983, Middle States accredited it the Special Educational Service Program or Programa de Servicios Educativos Especiales in Spanish and received the Program Excellence from the National University Continuing Education Association. In 1985, the Colegio Universitario Metropolitano changed its name to the Universidad Metropolitana or UMET. It also inaugurated the
Jayuya Campus by PROSEE. Also, the PRJC inaugurated the
Cabo Rojo Campus and
Coamo Campus. In March of the same year, the system inagurated
Canal 40 (WMTJ-TV), with the CET program, it had classes through the program that started on the 22 of April, with 112 students. In 1986, UMET inagurated a new campus in
Aguadilla through PROSEE. Turabo also inagurated a new campus in
Yauco, and PRJC also did in
Yabucoa. In 1987, the Foundation became the first private university institution to collaborate in an agreement with the
University of Puerto Rico. Also, Turabo inagurated a campus in
Cayey. In 1988, UMET started to offer
master's degrees. In 1990, PRJC Rio Piedras moved to a new campus in
Carolina and in 1992, changes their name to Colegio Universitario del Este (CUE). In 1991, Turabo estableshes their School of Engineering. On the 15 of July 1993, the Board of Directors decided to legally change the Foundation to the Fundación Educativa Ana G. Méndez, Inc. From then on, the system came to be known as Sistema Universitario Ana G. Méndez or SUAGM. In 1995, UMET was selected as a Model of Excellence from the
National Science Foundation. In 31 of July 1996, with the
Puerto Rico Tourism Company and the Colegio Universitario del Este, the International School of Tourism and Hotel Administration was established. In 1998, Turabo inaugurated a new campus in
Manati, which later moved to
Barceloneta. In 2001, Turabo estableshes their first online master's program in the School of Business. In 2002, UMET inaugurated a new campus in
Bayamon. In the same year, Turabo inaugurates a new campus in
Isabela. In 2003, SUAGM inaguarated their first campus in the
Continental United States in Metro
Orlando in
Florida, this campus and all campuses in the United States, are branch of all three major universities (UMET, Turabo and Colegio Universitario del Este). In 2005, Turabo inagurated a campus in
Ponce. In 2006, SUAGM inagurated the second campus in
South Florida because of the high Hispanic population. In 2010, SUAGM inagurated a campus in
Tampa Bay. In 2012, SUAGM inagurated the Capital Area Campus in Maryland. In 2013, SUAG estableshed their online campus. In 2015, SUAG established a campus in
Dallas. In 2016, the Board of Directors named Sr. Jose F Méndez González as president emeritus and the President of SUAGM.
Restructuring and Unification On January 2, 2019,
Metropolitan University,
University of Turabo and
Universidad del Este merged into a single university of campuses to form Universidad Ana G. Méndez. In early 2020, the Yauco Campus was permanently closed because of the conditions of the campus after the
2019–20 Puerto Rico earthquakes. Later, it was announced that the Maryland campus was also getting closed because of the restructiring and the unification. In January 2021, it was announced that the Isabela campus would also be closed because of the restructuring and the unification. On December 15, 2023, the
American Veterinary Association (AVMA) Council on Higher Education (COE) granted UAGM, Gurabo Campus' Doctor of Veterinary Medicine program a Letter of Reasonable Assurance, authorizing the School of Veterinary Medicine to admit the first cohort for the first, and only, degree of
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in the history of
Puerto Rico. If the university meet the council's reasonable assurance performance standards, the AVMA-COE will grant the university's School of Veterinary Medicine Provisional Accreditation status, allowing graduates from the first cohort and all others thereafter to sit for the International Council for Veterinary Assessment (ICVA)
North America Veterinary Licensing Examination (NAVLE). The first 80-student cohort's
White Coat Ceremony was held on Saturday, September 28, 2024, on the premises of the School of Veterinary Medicine and future Veterinary Teaching Hospital grounds at UAGM, Gurabo campus. ==Campuses==