This school has its origins in the house of studies created in 1785 by Fray Juan Ramos de Lora and was upgraded to Universidad Pontificia in 1810. It was secularized in 1832 and received its present name in 1883. The student population numbers 37,000 today. There are ten departments, two campuses in the states of Tachira and Trujillo, and extensions in the cities of Guanare, San Juan de los Morros and Barinas. It offers fifteen sports disciplines, supports thirteen cultural groups, besides having research institutes, centres and laboratories. The ULA has been throughout its history, and still is today, Merida's heartbeat.