Overview
"Prefacultativo" (also called "preuniversitario" or "curso propedéutico" depending on the university) is not one national exam. It is a type of preparatory admission course that individual public universities in Bolivia run through their own faculties, as one of several possible routes into a degree programme. Each faculty sets its own version of the course, so what follows describes the general model, illustrated by the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés (UMSA) and the Universidad Mayor de San Simón (UMSS).
Who can take it
High school graduates (bachilleres) who want to enter a specific faculty and career. At UMSA's Faculty of Economic and Financial Sciences, the course is aimed at graduating or graduated high school students applying to Public Accounting, Business Administration or Economics. At UMSS, it is open to bachilleres as an admission route.
Structure
| Element | UMSA (Fac. Ciencias Económicas y Financieras) | UMSS |
|---|---|---|
| Format | In-person (presencial) | Formative process with leveling activities |
| Subjects | Mathematics, Language | Not specified on the source page |
| Assessment | "Prueba de Suficiencia Académica" (Academic Sufficiency Test) | Partial exams, practical assignments, and a final comprehensive assessment |
| Alternative route | — | Can be taken instead of the PSA (Prueba de Suficiencia Académica) standardized entrance test |
Because each faculty designs its own course, subjects, duration and pass criteria differ between universities and even between faculties of the same university.
What it covers
At UMSA's Faculty of Economic and Financial Sciences, the published course materials cover Mathematics and Language. At UMSS, the course is described as strengthening academic knowledge, cognitive skills and aptitudes needed for higher education, without a fixed public subject list.
Scoring and results
UMSA's course leads to a "Prueba de Suficiencia Académica," an academic sufficiency test that candidates must pass. UMSS's course combines partial exams, coursework and a final assessment; passing is one of the university's accepted routes to enrolment, used as an alternative to sitting the PSA directly.
Recognition
A prefacultativo/preuniversitario course only grants entry to the specific faculty and university that ran it; it is not a portable national qualification.
How to register
Registration is announced faculty by faculty through numbered "convocatorias" (calls), published on each faculty's own site (for example UMSA's Faculty of Economic and Financial Sciences publishes an annual convocatoria for its Curso Prefacultativo). Students should check the admissions page of the specific faculty they want to apply to.
Preparation tips
Because the course itself is the preparation route into a degree, the practical step is identifying which faculty and university offer a prefacultativo for the target career and following that faculty's own convocatoria and study materials (UMSA, for example, publishes downloadable material for its Mathematics and Language content).
Is Prefacultativo a single national exam in Bolivia?
No. It is a category of faculty-run preparatory admission courses; each public university and faculty designs its own version.
Does passing a prefacultativo course guarantee admission?
It depends on the faculty. At UMSA's Faculty of Economic and Financial Sciences, passing requires a separate Prueba de Suficiencia Académica; at UMSS, completing the preuniversitario is one accepted route to enrolment instead of sitting the PSA.
What subjects are typically covered?
This varies by faculty. UMSA's Faculty of Economic and Financial Sciences course covers Mathematics and Language.