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EDUCATION
36
Universities
Spain’s higher education system offers international standards that will make
studying in Spain not only a daily delight but a career boost as well.
Spain's high number of university students
- with women outnumbering men -
are scattered across 75 institutions
throughout the country, 56 of them staterun
and 19 run by private enterprises or
the Catholic Church.
Salamanca University, founded in 1218, is
the oldest university in Spain, while
Madrid's Complutense and Barcelona's
Central are the largest and most prestigious,
with 103,000 and 59,000 students
respectively.
Malaga and Murcia also have high competition
for places, though tough end of first
year exams soon whittle down high student
numbers.
There are four levels of higher education:
university schools (escuelas universitarias),
which offer three-year courses such as
vocational diplomas for teachers or nurses;
university college (colegios
universitarios), where you leave with a
degree (licenciatura) at the end of three
years; faculties (facultades), where you
study for five to six years for the equivalent
of an MA or MSc; and higher technical
schools where you receive a degree in
engineering or architecture after a period
of 5-6 years.
The highest level of university study is a
PhD programme, after which you become
a Doctor en Filosofia y Letras.
Once you have chosen your course and
university, you cannot change half way
through.
Remember, at Barcelona University courses
may be in Catalan.
Getting in is no easy matter as there are
too much demand and too few places.
Spanish students must pass the Prueba
General de Bachillerato (PGB) with a good
mark and then wait to hear in July
whether they have an offer of a place to
start that October.
FOREIGN STUDENTS
EU nationals have an equal right to places
in Spanish universities and most universities
allocate five percent of places to non-
EU students.
To apply, write to the student secretariat
(vice-rectorado de alumnus) at your chosen
university.
British A Levels are accepted as entrance
qualifications, but American students need
more than a high school diploma - preferably
a BA, BBA or BSc degree or two years
previous study at college.
You will need to have your qualifications
officially approved - a process known as
convalidation or homologation (homologación).
For further information about entrance
requirements and how to validate your
qualifications, contact the Ministry of
Education:
Ministerio de Educación y Cultura,
Subdirección General de Cooperación
Internacional, Centro de Información
sobre Reconocimiento de Títulos y
Movilidad de Estudiantes,
C/Alcalá 34, 28014 Madrid.
tel. 917-018 000. Also see their website
at www.mec.es
FEES
About one in seven Spanish or foreign students
receives a grant or scholarship.
Otherwise, fees are relatively low for residents
and EU nationals, from €300 to
€1,000 a year, depending on the faculty
and location.
SPAIN EXPAT SURVIVAL GUIDE WWW.EXPATICA.COM