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This paper aims to analyze how Colombian Universities have incorporated the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development goals (SDGs) into their missions and visions.

The study used a documentary design to analyze the content of the missions and visions of the 86 Colombian Universities registered with the Ministry of National Education (MEN).

The study shows that universities are primarily aligned with Goal 13 as follows: climate action and this alignment is carried out to a great extent by the university’s governance, culture and activities. In contrast, there was a predominance of intentions to address the social dimension of sustainable development (SD).

The study focused on examining universities’ missions and visions, which leaves out other sources of information that could account for university practices linked to the SDGs and sustainability.

The study’s results reveal the degree to which the universities are aligned with the SDGs in Colombia, which serves as a basis for the formulation of guidelines by the MEN and other organizations to strengthen the processes that contribute to the 2030 Agenda.

Research on how universities align with the SDGs is not a new topic, but it is scarce in the Colombian context. This research contributes to this gap by addressing the topic from a holistic and comparative perspective of SD education.

A mission statement is the central axis of any organization and the cornerstone of its strategic planning. Universities have implemented this tool to define, among other things, its identity; however, the legal nature and functions of the mission statement have not been determined. In this article, the authors analyze the differences in the university mission statements of public and private higher education institutions in relation to the mission functions proposed by the 1992 legislation on higher education in Colombia – Law 30 – involving teaching, research, extension and social projection and internationalization.

Through content analysis, the authors analyze the mission statements of two groups of institutions that make up the totality of universities in Colombia – 32 public and 53 private universities. The analysis is conducted along the four dimensions defined by the law as comprising the higher education mission, i.e. teaching, research, extension and social projection, and internationalization, due to its importance in the high-quality institutional accreditation process.

Based on the differences identified in the mission statements, the authors establish the university functions and determine how they give back to society in their legal capacity as public or private institutions.

This research scenario is appropriate for answering research questions related to whether there are differences in the strategies of Colombian public and private universities based on their mission statements. Although the Colombian higher education system includes various types of tertiary institutions, only universities are included in the study.

Research has shown that regardless of their legal nature, based on their mission statements, Colombian universities are mainly geared towards teaching. However, when comparing additional dimensions, private universities are less involved in research processes and more focused on activities related to social impact than are public universities. Additionally, private universities are more engaged in internationalization than are public institutions, with mission statements focused on both national and international accreditation processes.

The results of this research are intended to help society comprehend the differences between public and private universities in Colombia based on mission statements, which can contribute to understanding, among other factors, the academic programs offered by universities and how they should guide their activities.

This is the first such study in Colombia, a country that provides higher education through public and private institutions in very similar proportions, that analyses the differences in university mission statements and whose findings contribute to understanding whether universities are strategically oriented towards their own established policies or to contributing to the development of new public policies aimed at supporting the country's development process.