Purpose Since social, emotional and intercultural (SEI) competences can help individuals manage their feelings, deal with stressful situations and build relationships with others, they have become useful tools for university students. The purpose of this study is thus to assess students’ self-perception of their SEI competences in a public higher education institution in Colombia. Design/methodology/approach For this purpose, we used a cross-sectional quantitative design and a sample of 413 students from different academic programs and levels. The differences across gender, age, socioeconomic stratum and participation in internationalization strategies were examined using statistical and linear regression analysis. Findings According to the results, students exhibited “satisfactory” or high levels of social, emotional and intercultural competences in general. Self-management, global citizenship and intercultural intelligence had the highest average scores, whereas self-awareness, social awareness and relationship skills had the lowest scores. Remarkably, we found a positive relationship between older students and global citizenship and relationship skills and between internationalization strategies and global citizenship and intercultural intelligence, as well as a low correlation between social awareness and younger students (aged 15 to 25 years). Originality/value To offer high-quality academic opportunities and internationalization strategies to university students, this article provides insights into how these students perceive and develop eymotional, social and intercultural competences throughout their academic program, considering their sociodemographic conditions. Finally, we recommend incorporating teaching strategies that favor the development of SEI competences into the curriculum.