This article is based on an educational, historical and critical study comprising the factors that have influenced the development of the Colombian Higher Education system during the period 1965-1999.  The article aim is to reconstruct qualitatively the relevance of educational historical research for the development of higher education in Colombia. Methodologically, special attention is paid to the hermeneutical process applied to the data collection and compilation of the data as well as renewing the documentary analysis.  Focus is placed upon establishing levels of authenticity, truth and reliability of the documents selected as paradigmatic umbrella for the analysis presented. Finally, a set of comparative and critical analyses of Colombian conceptualisations and the European assumptions on higher education are included in order to establish an equilibrium between factors and historical facts.