Guadalajara is also known as Perla del Occidente (Spanish for 'Pearl of the West'). The city's approximately 4 million inhabitants are known as tapatíos. The city is located in the west of the Mexican highlands, around 500 kilometres west of the capital Mexico City. The city of Guadalajara forms the largest part of the Municipio Guadalajara. Guadalajara was founded in 1532 under the name Espíritu Santo by the Spanish under the leadership of Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán and laid out in a chessboard pattern. The city was destroyed by strong earthquakes in 1818 and 1875, but was always rebuilt. There are several universities in Guadalajara, including the second oldest in Mexico, the Universidad de Guadalajara, which was founded in 1792.

The UdG offers a total of six Schools with various specialisations: CUCEA: Business and Administration; CUAAD: Architecture, Art and Design; CUCEI: Natural Sciences and Engineering; CUCBA: Biology and Agronomy; CUCS: Medicine; CUCSH: Humanities. For Oldenburg students, it is particularly important that only CUCEA offers courses in English (approx. 10 business courses per semester, more on this in the International Handbook for students). In addition, the UdG offers the Master of Global Politics and Transpacific Studies completely in English.

Students must choose a Centro Universitario when selecting a course and cannot switch between the individual centres.

In Mexico, UdG is known for its important role, particularly in medicine and engineering.

Accommodation can be chosen as part of the enrolment process at the UdG, but the rest of the process only takes place via external providers (e.g. www.informador.mx). The costs are approx. 100-200 euros per month.

Exchange students have the opportunity to take part in the buddy programme ("socio"). At the same time, attending Spanish courses is also recommended, although these are only available for a fee of USD 150.