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Higher Education

Universities, qualifications and fees

Spain has 70 universities (universidades), 48 of them state-run and 22 run by private enterprises or by the Catholic church. There are a number of other higher education institutes specialising in physical education, tourism, dramatic arts, dance and music, as well as a number of highly rated business schools.

In addition to Spanish higher education establishments, there are a number of US universities with faculties in Madrid, including the Schiller International University (www.schillermadrid.edu ), the St Louis University (www.spain.slu.edu ) and Suffolk University (www.suffolk.es ). All classes at American universities are taught in English. The European university has a branch in Barcelona.

Although few Spanish universities are world-renowned, Spain has a long history of university education, the university system dating back to the middle ages. Spain’s oldest university (Salamanca) was founded in 1218 and even before this, the Moors had ‘universities’ in Spain long before anyone else had even thought of them. The largest and most highly regarded Spanish universities are Complutense in Madrid and Central in Barcelona.

There are some 1.5m university students in Spain, a figure generally considered to be too high for a country with a population of 42m. Overcrowding is a huge problem, particularly in first-year classes (you must usually arrive early to get a seat at a lecture). However, many students drop out after the tough exams set at the end of the first year. The number of female students has increased by around 40 per cent in the last decade and they now outnumber male students (more women also complete their courses and obtain degrees than men). Foreign students comprise just 3 per cent of students, a third coming from EU countries.

Types of University

There are four different types of university establishment in Spain:

University Schools (escuelas universitarias) – offering three-year courses of a vocational or non-academic nature leading to a diploma;

University Colleges (colegios universitarios) – offering three-year courses of an academic nature leading eventually to a licenciatura or tesina and two-year courses for those with a diploma who want to obtain a licenciatura or tesina;

Faculties (facultades) – offering five-year academic courses leading to a licenciatura or tesina and two-year courses for graduates of a university college who wish to obtain their licenciatura or tesina;

Higher Technical Schools of Engineering & Architecture (escuela superior de ingeniería y arquitectura) – offering five-year vocational and technical courses leading to an ingeniero superior y arquitecto degree.

The Spanish university system is rigidly structured: students must follow a fixed curriculum and aren’t permitted to change universities during their studies (except for family or health reasons).

Studies

Studies at Spanish universities are divided into three cycles. The first cycle, lasting three years, leads to a licencia (in academic subjects) or a diploma (in vocational or technical subjects, which are studied by twice as many students as academic subjects). The second cycle, lasting two years, leads to a licenciatura or tesina (academic), which is equivalent to an American or British MA or MSc, or an ingeniero superior y arquitecto degree (vocational). The third cycle is a PhD (doctorate) programme, which results in the academic title of doctor or Doctor en Filosofía y Letras.

University Reforms

University courses are currently in a state of change as Spain starts to bring them into line with EU regulations due to be in place by 2010 and designed to make university studies across the EU as homogeneous as possible. Under the proposals the number of available courses will be reduced from around 140 to less than 80 and courses will typically last four years instead of five. Architecture, dentistry, veterinary science and pharmacy will continue to last five and a degree in medicine will take six. It will no longer be possible to study one language only and several specialist degrees currently available will be integrated into other subjects.

The names of degree awards will be known as Grado (instead of licenciaturas or diplomaturas), Posgrado (replacing máster) and Doctorado. Degree awards will include a certificate (Suplemento al Título) with a detailed description of the student’s completed studies in an attempt to make recognition of qualifications within the EU easier.