The Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas (Spanish: Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas) is a public, coeducational, research university based Bogotá, Colombia. It is the second most important public higher education institution in the city, after the National University of Colombia, with a population of 26,140 students. It was founded in 1948, by Priest Daniel de Caicedo, who would become its first rector, with the support of the Bogotá City Council, as the Municipal University of Bogotá (Spanish: Universidad Municipal de Bogotá). It changed its name to the current in 1957 when the municipality of Bogotá became a district. Its establishment was officialized by the 1970 decree No. 1030, issued by the national government.