Managua the national education center, with most of the nation's prestigious universities and higher education institutions based there. In 2007, after a successful literacy campaign, Managua was declared by the Mayor of Managua and the Sandinista party newspaper to be the first capital city in Central America to be rid of illiteracy. Nicaragua's higher education system consists of 48 universities and 113 colleges, vocational and technical institutes which serve students in the areas of electronics, computer systems and sciences, agroforestry, construction and trade-related services. The educational system includes 1 United States accredited English language university, 3 bilingual university programs, 5 bilingual
American Capital of Culture that has a political, geographical, administrative or historic unity. By way of example, territories could be cities, regions, provinces, states, nations, etc. For the official presentation of the application, it is mandatory to complete all the sections of the Application Form, in any of the following four languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese or French. American Capital of Culture The non-governmental organization American Capital of Culture Organization selects one city in the Americas annually to serve as the American Capital of Culture for a period of one year. The organization claims the initiative is based closely on the European Capital of Culture