The creation of the Free University of Kinshasa, "ULK" in acronym, reappears on October 15, 1988. At that time, the Democratic Republic of Congo had only three Universities, all belonging to the State. That is to say, the ULK is the first private secular University to be born in the DRC. It was created in place of the University Institute of Law and Economics (IUDSE) from which it derives its origins.