Formalised as a university under the UAEM name in 1956, the institution traces its origins back to 1828 with the foundation Instituto Literario del Estado de México, in the former state capital of Tlalpan.

The Political Constitution of the State of Mexico was signed in Texcoco in 1827; some of its articles established the creation of an institution that managed all levels of public education.

Mora believed freedom was the most important moral value that could be transmitted to students, so he thought the Institute had to be financially supported by citizens, without the interference of the state government.

It was Zavala's idea that prevailed, thus the local Congress declared that poor and preferably indigenous students should be sent to the Institute from each town or district supported by the public treasury.

"El Beaterio" was a large house in Toluca intended to host "beatas", women who lived under certain rules and were devoted to educating girls.

After the Mexican War of Independence, since the place had been practically abandoned and was guarded only by a nun, Lorenzo de Zavala decided to expropriate the land and turn it into the new premises for the Institute.

With the establishment of the centralist government in Mexico, which lasted from 1835 to 1846, state institutes all over the country were closed by decree of president Antonio López de Santa Anna.

However, on November 7, 1846, after being appointed as interim governor of the State of Mexico, Francisco Modesto de Olaguíbel signed a decree establishing the reopening of the Literary Institute, an initiative attributed to the Secretary of War and Finance, Ignacio Ramirez Calzada, El Nigromante.

In 1849, after the Mexican-American War, the American army arrived in Toluca and took over the Institute as headquarters, which forced students to take refuge in the Convento del Carmen.

When Archduke Maximilian of Habsburg arrived in Toluca in October 1864, as part of his national tour to learn about people's needs across the country, he stayed at the Convento del Carmen.

For instance, every morning students, whether living at the boarding school or not, had to pray and sing a religious hymn, whose last stanza mentioned the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Another graduate from the Academy of San Carlos who joined the institute as a professor was Luis Coto y Maldonado, an artist from Toluca who was ver keen on portraying the city, as opposed to José María Velasco, who preferred painting landscapes.

After the Reform War, Gabino Barreda, minister of Education during Benito Juárez's term, traveled to Europe, where he learned about who is considered the father of positivism: Auguste Comte.

Upon his return, based on the scientific method, Barreda designed the curriculum of the Escuela Nacional Preparatoria, which removed all religion-related courses to privilege science.

Dean Joaquin Ramos explained the icons on the coat of arms with the following words: "On a green field, representing hope, there is a crown made of olive and oak branches as a symbol of homeland.

During the Porfiriato, the government period after Benito Juárez's term, the Institute stood out for participating at the Exposition Universelle held in Paris in 1889, where dissected animals from the collection of the Natural Sciences Cabinet were exhibited.

Among other characters who studied at the Institute during the Revolution were Andrés Molina Enríquez, a great social scientist who fought the lack of progress and misery that Mexican peasants suffered; Pascual Morales Molina, part of the constitutionalist army and eventually governor of the State of Mexico, and Gustavo Baz Prada, who as a minor and medical student decided to join the Zapatistas.

Baz Prada became governor of the state during the Revolution, a position he held again years later after being rector of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.

On March 3, 1928, the foundation stone of the Monumento al maestro was laid, and five years later, with the support of students who organized various fundraising events, it was finished.

Finally, on December 31, 1943, governor Isidro Fabela signed the decree that granted the long-awaited autonomy to the institution, which entered into force on January 15, 1944.