 The University of Valle ( Spanish : Universidad del Valle ) , also called <unk> , is a public , departmental , coeducational , research university based primarily in the city of Cali , Valle del Cauca , Colombia . It is the largest higher education institution by student population in the southwest of the country , and the third in Colombia , with more than 30 @,@ 000 students . The university was established by ordinance No. 12 of 1945 , by the Departmental Assembly as the Industrial University of Valle del Cauca ( Spanish : Universidad Industrial del Valle del Cauca ) , under the leadership of Tulio Ramírez Rojas and Severo Reyes Gamboa . 
