Official data on the doctoral system in Puebla reveals a stark contrast in quality. The state has 96 doctoral programs registered with Official Recognition of Validity of Studies (RVOE), but only 42 are accredited by the National System of Postgraduate Studies (SNP), the federal mechanism that evaluates the academic quality and research capacity of these programs. In other words, only 43.75 percent of the doctoral programs offered in the state meet national standards for scientific output, while 54—that is, 56.3 percent—operate without this accreditation.
This discrepancy is significant. The RVOE, granted by the General Directorate of Accreditation, Incorporation, and Revalidation of the Ministry of Public Education (SEP), only guarantees that a program can operate legally. The National System of Researchers (SNP), coordinated by the National Secretariat of Humanities, Sciences and Technologies (Secihti), involves a more in-depth evaluation based on indicators such as academic productivity, faculty membership in the National System of Researchers (SNI), infrastructure, research areas, and institutional affiliations.
In Puebla, this difference translates into a dual model. On the one hand, a scientific system highly concentrated in a few institutions, all of them public; on the other, an expanding educational market that has multiplied the number of doctoral programs without necessarily having an equivalent validation of their quality. The data clearly demonstrate this. Of the 42 doctoral programs recognized by the SNP, 24 belong to the Meritorious Autonomous University of Puebla (BUAP), while the National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics (INAOE) contributes four, and the Postgraduate College (Colpos) Puebla campus adds two more. Together, these three institutions concentrate more than 70 percent of the doctoral programs with quality recognition in the state.
These are public institutions that also concentrate a significant portion of scientific research. The BUAP, for example, reports more than 700 researchers affiliated with the National System of Researchers (SNI), making it the state’s leading scientific hub. The INAOE, although smaller, boasts one of the highest ratios of researchers to faculty in the country, with high levels within the SNI. These indicators explain why their programs manage to maintain their place within the national system.
Outside this core group, the remaining doctoral programs recognized by the SNP are distributed to a lesser extent among other institutions that have consolidated certain lines of research, such as the Popular Autonomous University of the State of Puebla (UPAEP), the University of the Americas Puebla (UDLAP), and the Ibero-American University of Puebla (Ibero), as well as some technological institutes and polytechnic universities affiliated with the National Technological Institute of Mexico. However, their relative weight is small compared to the dominant bloc.
Beyond that group, the landscape changes dramatically. Puebla has at least 54 doctoral programs operating solely with official recognition of studies (RVOE). Among the institutions offering them are high-profile private universities such as Anáhuac University Puebla and the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM), as well as others like the University of the Valley of Puebla, Madero University, Cuauhtémoc University, the Institute of Legal Sciences, IEU University, Inter-American University, University of the Valley of Mexico, Tecmilenio University, Puebla University Institute, and various private universities that have expanded their offerings in the last decade.
In many of these cases, the programs focus on areas such as education, administration, law, or organizational development, and operate under flexible models that include executive, blended, or online options. This type of format has broadened access to postgraduate studies, but it has also raised questions about their academic rigor, particularly when there is no evidence of scientific output, peer-reviewed publications, or participation in research networks.
The economic factor is also key to understanding this expansion. While doctoral programs at public institutions are usually low-cost or even free, private programs can range from 150,000 to 400,000 pesos in total, depending on the institution, the modality, and the duration. In some cases, the cost is presented as an investment for professional or administrative advancement, rather than as a path to scientific research.
This growth in doctoral programs is not an isolated phenomenon. According to reports from the National Association of Universities and Institutions of Higher Education (ANUIES), between 2010 and 2019 Mexico experienced a significant expansion in postgraduate programs, particularly in the private sector. Puebla was no exception. The diversification of educational models, the rise of online education, and the demand for academic credentials contributed to the proliferation of doctoral programs during that period.
However, this expansion has not always been accompanied by robust academic evaluation mechanisms. The lack of recognition in the National System of Researchers (SNP) means that many programs have not undergone peer review processes nor do they meet research standards comparable at the national or international level.
The underlying data reinforces this interpretation. Puebla has strengthened its scientific base in recent years. The number of members of the National System of Researchers increased from 799 in 2014 to 1,555 in 2022, representing a growth of nearly 95 percent. However, this increase is not reflected in a more equitable distribution of quality doctoral programs, demonstrating that research remains concentrated in a limited number of institutions.
Thus, the doctoral system in Puebla presents itself as a space of contrasts. On the one hand, there is a solid academic core, linked to scientific research, with evaluated programs and demonstrable impact. On the other, there is an expanding system that largely responds to market dynamics, where postgraduate studies become an educational product whose quality is not always verifiable.
The initial equation clearly summarizes the problem: less than half of doctoral programs have quality accreditation, and within that group, the majority are concentrated in a few public institutions.
The question that inevitably arises is whether Puebla is building a doctoral training system that strengthens knowledge generation or whether, on the contrary, it is facing an expansion process that, without sufficient regulation, risks leading to educational simulation and the progressive devaluation of the highest academic degree.
Source: lajornadadeoriente
