An exploratory, retrospective, longitudinal study that determined the academic and administrative characteristics of the postgraduate offer at the University of Panama. The population consisted of all the postgraduate programs offered from 2012 to 2016, with academic and administrative records in the Office of the Vice President for Research and Postgraduate Studies.

The offer in the period 2012-2016 was of 138 programs of the four levels of training, according to the General Regulations for Postgraduate Studies, to 27,033 Students, 70% female and 30% male. In 81.2% master's degrees, 8% specialization, 6.5% Doctorate and 4.3% Special Postgraduate Courses.

By specialty areas, the largest offer was master's degrees, in Natural and Exact Sciences and Technology (14.5%), Humanities (10.8%), Nursing (10.2%), Education (10.2%), Law and Political Sciences (8.6%), Medicine (7.3%) and in lower percentages the other disciplinary specialties.

By areas of knowledge, established at the University of Panama, 39.9% are from the area of Social, Humanistic and Cultural Sciences. 28.3% from Health Sciences. 21.7% of Natural, Exact and Technological Sciences. 10.1% of the Economic and Administrative Sciences.

Of 112 master's programs, 57.1% were professional and 42.9% academic. 53% meet the guidelines of the Central American Postgraduate Accreditation Agency-ACAP and 11 master's programs have been accredited (Central Campus), of which most are academic modality.

In the interior of the Republic, 14,555 students were enrolled, of these, 92.5% in Regional University Centers (CRU). At the institute headquarters (Central Campus), 726 students were enrolled.

The creation of doctorates has increased since 2010, in the four areas of knowledge at the higher level. In disciplines such as: Education, Law, Humanities, Nursing, Medicine, Natural Sciences, Physics, Mathematics and Business Administration and Accounting.

The offer of postgraduate programs in the 2012-2016 period continued to increase, in the academic units of the four areas of knowledge of the University of Panama, with professional and academic modality.