 In August 1971, the university was merged with the "Protestant Autonomous University of Congo" ("Université Libre du Congo") and "The University of Congo at Lubumbashi" (founded in 1956) into the "National University of Zaire" (Université Nationale du Zaïre, UNAZA).Ties were cut with the Catholic University of Leuven, and funding for the university began to drop precipitously.At this point, the university had an enrollment capacity of just 5,000.