It is part of the State University System of Oaxaca (SUNEO) and is public institution of higher education and scientific research.

It is thought to have been founded in the latter half of the 15th century, by Zapotec people from the region around Tarabundi and San Pedro Laduu[2] (though there are also neolithic remains in the area).

Some of the other communities in the municipality are probably several centuries older than the town of Ixtlán [4] As a rural mountainous region, higher education had previously not been available.

[5] UNSIJ also encourages four core academic activities among its students, including: teaching, research, cultural enrichment, and promotion of regional development.

This article on a university, college or other tertiary educational institution in Mexico is a stub.