Spain is the country of the oldest universities in the world. The oldest university in Europe - the University of Salamanca - was founded in the Spanish Kingdom in the XII century. Many local universities are still located in medieval castles, but they do not store the dust of centuries, but the accumulated knowledge and the desire for development.
Features of studying at universities in Spain
The curricula of Spanish universities competently combine theory with practice, lectures with seminars, a laboratory, etc.In the last years of study, the university provides an internship for a student, and after graduation it can help with employment - most Spanish universities cooperate with many employers.
As in schools, Spanish universities have a 10-point knowledge assessment system. In addition to the Bologna system, the Spaniards also adhere to the Unified European ECTS system, according to which education is divided into so - called credit units-educational units or subjects that the student must master to the required extent. Among them there are compulsory and optional courses to choose from.
What is not surprising at all, one of the most popular areas of study in Spain is the management of the tourist and restaurant business. Everything is clear here: graduates in the country of a developed recreation system have every chance of both finding a job in a prestigious company and starting their own small business. This area is also quite popular in the Southern European Kingdom: Spanish business schools have long been an indicator of international quality. Medicine, architecture, history, law and art - music and painting-are in active demand. Some Spanish universities are known for their separate faculties: for example, it is believed that the best lawyers should be sought at the exit of the Autonomous University of Madrid, and specialists in archaeology - at the Complutense University.
Credit system
The essence of the Bologna system is that it takes into account not only the traditional grades obtained on exams, but also credits (special credits, Carnegie credits), which reflect the time spent by the student on attending lectures, seminars, as well as performing various projects and works on each subject or unrelated to it.
Thus, to obtain a bachelor's degree at the end of four years of study in Spain, it is necessary to have at your disposal 240 credit units, which are distributed as follows:
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the study of subjects of basic higher education, mandatory and selective: each of them can be evaluated in 5-9 credits, but in total the latter should be at least 60;
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practical education in companies and enterprises: maximum of 60;
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participation in social and cultural activities, including volunteering and sports competitions (most often): maximum of 6;
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thesis: from 6 to 30.
On average, one loan corresponds to 25-30 hours (before the signing of the Bologna Agreement - 10), and to move to the next course, you need to collect a certain number of credits - usually 60, but not more than 90. At the same time, it may differ not only for each university, but also be different for the faculties of one university.
Top 20 universities in Spain
1. University of Navarre
The University of Navarre is an institute of Christian inspiration created by Saint Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer, the founder of Opus Dei. Its mission is to seek and transmit the truth, to promote the academic, cultural and personal development of its students; to promote scientific research and activities in the field of health; to offer adequate development opportunities to its teachers and staff; and to carry out extensive work on cultural development and social promotion with a clear goal of service.
Among its main functions are the dissemination of scientific knowledge, the promotion of research, individual counseling of students, the organization of updates and specializations for university graduates, the task of spreading culture and expanding universities, among other things.
It stands out in the blocks of student experience, preparation for working life and the quality of teaching staff and research. Its classes have a ratio of one teacher for every eight students, 78% of teachers are doctors, 41% practice their profession outside of the academy, and 93% of students leave work after completing their bachelor's degree.
Price: from 166 to 200 euros per credit.
2. Complutense University of Madrid
Known for a long time as “la Docta”, the Complutense University of Madrid was —from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th— the only Spanish institution authorized to grant the title of doctor. Its history precedes it and, today, it is considered one of the most prestigious and important in the country.
Among its academic virtues, it has a Vice-Rector's Office for Quality, which offers its entire university community information and programs that allow the establishment of a system of guarantees and trust in the teaching, research and management activities carried out. For this reason, it develops quality evaluation programs, certification and accreditation of centers, and conferences and congresses on quality in Higher Education institutions.
It also has an Equality Unit whose main objective is to build a culture that allows the university community to participate in the development of the principle of equal treatment and opportunities between women and men. And it is that this institution considers that excellence is only achieved by incorporating the gender perspective in teaching, research, innovation and knowledge transfer, for which it is necessary to develop active policies that allow a transformation of the institution , emphasizing conciliation and co-responsibility, while deconstructing the imaginary that perpetuate inequality.
Price: between 21.39 and 136.44 euros per credit.
3. University of Santiago de Compostela
The University of Santiago de Compostela is a public institution of higher education and research endorsed by more than 500 years of antiquity. This institution is recognized for its academic prestige and excellence in research, as well as for being at the service of the economic, social and cultural development of Galician society.
Its mission is to continue to stand out for its academic solvency with an attractive offer, capable of attracting the best students, and for sustaining an innovative research activity, of excellence and connected with the demands of environment to project itself as an international benchmark university. It also seeks to remain firmly committed to society and to be a fundamental part of the engine of its well-being.
Its fundamental values are freedom, equality, justice, pluralism, sustainability and ethical commitment; and make it an institution committed to sustainable development, transparency and social responsibility. As well as a strong defense of equality between women and men.
In addition to classes for its students, this institution develops activities aimed at the rest of the members of its community (teachers, researchers, service administration personnel) and society in general to encourage their comprehensive education , promote Galician culture, and spread the word about it. research work. It also has an internationalization policy aimed at positioning it with a vitally important agent at a global level.
Price: between 9.85 and 13.93 euros per credit.
4. Autonomous University of Madrid
In its half century of life, the Autonomous University of Madrid has established itself as a prestigious institution at the national level. The quality of teaching and research have made it grow as a state-of-the-art public university. Its main academic and social values are reflected in solidarity, environmental, health and cooperation projects, which guide its important service to society through a humanistic vocation.
It is currently immersed in a strategic plan for change whose mission is to update its teaching according to the challenges presented by the world in which They live. To do this, it develops a multidisciplinary education model oriented towards finding solutions for problems related to the environment, through the promotion of knowledge, values, attitudes, skills and behavior patterns committed to sustainable development.
Price: between 21.39 and 26.14 euros per credit.
5. Nebrija University
The philosophy of the University of Nebrija is to learn by doing, which is a vital experience in the transformation of the student towards global knowledge, to lead and lead the changes in which it is immersed.
It has a firm commitment to companies for the development of education in professional skills, which guarantees quality practices for students, so that they can join with their ambition to grow vitally and intellectually during their university stage. Its students know how to fully articulate their knowledge and capabilities with the national and international society in which they will develop their professional skills.
Its main pillars are employability and orientation towards different professions; academic excellence, which is achieved through personalized teaching; internationalization through bilingualism and the inclusion of international students; and pedagogical innovation. And its values are based on quality teaching and research to create knowledge, with comprehensive education in capacities, competencies and abilities of all its students. These are key principles to achieve the development of individual talent and the best opportunities for professional integration.
Price: 172 euros per credit.
6. San Pablo-CEU University
CEU San Pablo University is a pioneering Catholic institution in the development of innovative educational projects based on the pillars and values of Christian humanism to transmit a criterion of thought and action that seeks to improve society. It is defined as a global, innovative and entrepreneurial university, and without these attitudes, which it seeks to transmit in its university community so that it, in turn, transmits them to the rest of society.
This institution is committed to an academic model aimed at excellence and the comprehensive education of its students. From practical education and with the best resources and teachers, its graduates obtain the best preparation at the national and international level and have, from the beginning, direct contact with the world of work.
Price: between 66 and 269 euros per credit.
7. Pontifical University of Comillas
The Comillas Pontifical University has more than 100 years of history, through which it has gone from the formation of minorities to a more universal social mission. Among its objectives is to cultivate and transmit scientific knowledge through the growing and shared cultivation of research in all the specialties offered, as a basis and progress of knowledge. Furthermore, careers are constantly adapting and evolving. Not only in the scientific aspect, but from a systematic approach to reality in all its complexity.
In this institution it is not only educated within the classrooms. Outside of them, the university spirit that favors the integral formation of its students is also transmitted, through values such as will, human sensitivity, ethics and aesthetics; education in capacity for reflection and responsibility.
The Universidad Pontificia de Comillas also has as bases of its education the interdisciplinary search for the truth, the assimilation of fundamental values and a deep knowledge of social reality. Foundations guarantee a human, global critical sense and the balanced exercise of it. The critical sense that develops must serve to discern any human manifestation. And all this focused from a Christian vision with which it tries to achieve the objectives and cultivate theological and philosophical sciences, and humanism.
Price: 200 euros per credit.
8. University of Salamanca
If the University of Salamanca has something, in addition to a long list of famous alumni, it is history. His beginnings date back to 1218, when Alfonso IX founded the Salamanticae scholas to offer higher studies in his kingdom. For his first study it had a teacher in laws, another in decrees, two decretals, two in logic, two in grammar, two in physics or medicine, one in organ, an apothecary, a librarian and two curators. Thus, the University of Salamanca became, together with Paris, Oxford and Bologna, one of the first European universities and today it is the only Spanish one that has maintained its activity through the centuries.
It currently has a strategic plan that seeks to guide efforts towards shaping the society of the future, responding to its needs for higher education, creation and transfer of knowledge. All this, taking into account technological, social and regulatory changes.
Price: Between 12.94 and 22.93 euros per credit.
9. University of Seville
With several centuries of experience, the University of Seville is an institution that provides a public service of higher education through study, teaching and research, as well as the generation, development and dissemination of knowledge at the service of society and of the citizenship.
It also has a strategic plan that lays the foundations for a more open, flexible, innovative, intelligent and integrated institution in the city, which is committed to a renewed image; and with which it is intended to be an avant-garde institution at the head of the Spanish public university system and that stands out among the most recognized and reputed in Europe.
Its history and experience have consolidated it as a great general university, with an important and extensive education offer of quality in undergraduate, postgraduate and double international degrees.
Today it faces new challenges that it faces to configure itself as a more open, modern and intelligent academy. It has an important commitment to equality and entrepreneurship in all sectors of the university community. To achieve this, it has a Unit for Equality that works to raise awareness to reduce the gender gap, and the USemprende program through which it enhances skills and provides mentoring to ideas with more projection.
Price: 12.62 euros per credit.
10. European University of Madrid
From the European University they seek to provide students with a comprehensive education, to educate leaders and prepared professionals who are capable of responding to the needs of a global world, and who add value in their different branches to contribute to the development of society in their set.
Academic excellence is one of its pillars, which is why they base their educational model on the principles of the European Higher Education Area, which focuses on the holistic learning of the person. In this model, the teacher is a reference and also a counselor who accompanies the student throughout their university life. The student, on his part, traces his own educational path developing the knowledge, competencies, skills and values that today's society demands. Their model places special emphasis on the maturity and autonomy of the student, so that it learns to adapt to an increasingly complex and ever-changing world.
This institution has a Diversity Attention Unit, which aims to promote the inclusion of those students who have specific needs, equip them with opportunities, encourage their development of skills and their full participation in the educational and labor society.
Price: 160 euros per credit.
11. University of Almería
The University of Almería (UAL) is a public institution of higher education created and designed to effectively and efficiently exercise a quality teaching and research function that contributes to the economic and social development of its environment through the transfer of knowledge.
This academy wants to be defined by a transparent and participatory government, focused on the comprehensive satisfaction of the student and the recruitment of talent, through excellence in teaching quality, the transfer of knowledge to society and a greater degree of international recognition, especially in the agri-food and environmental field.
Its values and principles are respect for all people, their opinions and their competences, without any exclusion; the participation of all sectors of the community in decision-making; transparency and responsibility in management; the assessment of merit, ability and work; and independence and autonomy.
Furthermore, the University of Almería takes on the challenge of reducing its negative environmental impact and acquires the commitment to contribute to the advancement of the sustainable development of society through teaching, research and innovation.
Beyond sustainability, other fundamental lines of action for this institution are interaction with society, internationalization and constant innovation.
Price: 12.62 euros per credit.
12. Alfonso X El Sabio University
The Alfonso X el Sabio University is a university with strong moral convictions and committed to independence, freedom, environmental principles and, above all, to innovation, progress and human development. For this reason, they carry out open investigations within different branches of knowledge, with a scientific and social interest character. The students of its faculties have the opportunity to participate in the one that best suits their interests and needs.
For this institution, the mobility of its teaching staff within and outside the countries of the European Union is essential. In this way they are kept in constant renewal. It is not surprising that 75% of its staff have a postgraduate or master's degree, that 58% have a doctorate and that 60% remain in professional practice outside the academy.
Price: between 150 and 366 euros per credit.
13. CEU Cardenal Herrera University
With almost 50 years of experience, CEU Cardenal Herrera University is the first non-state University in the Valencian Community. An institution of public service and private management that from its origin has been characterized by its pioneering nature (they were the first to offer university studies in Valencia such as pharmacy, journalism or veterinary medicine; and offer double degrees). As a result of its innovative development strategy, it has already become the most international university in its environment, with more than a quarter of international students enrolled (26%) from more than 70 countries and with a clear orientation towards preparing for a Global world.
Their philosophy is based on the student as the center of their activity, through which they prepare them to face the challenges of discovering, knowing, understanding and going further. All this through a different education experience that not only stays inside the classroom, but also transfers the learning outside of the classes and all this so that their students learn to think and do.
Price: between 66 and 176 euros per credit.
14. Carlos III University of Madrid (UC3M)
The Carlos III University of Madrid was created in 1989 and, since its birth, it has had the vocation of being an innovative public institution, with reduced dimensions, of quality and with a priority orientation towards research. Its first rector was Professor Gregorio Peces-Barba, who was the one who guided it in its mission of contributing to the improvement of society with quality teaching and advanced research in accordance with demanding international criteria.
This university aspires to excellence in all its activities, with the aim of becoming one of the best European and world universities. For this reason, it promotes the development of the people who make it up within the framework of the higher education public service. And it guides its activities by the values of merit, capacity, efficiency, transparency, equity, equality and respect for the environment.
To give the best education to its students, UC3M promotes the continuous education of its teachers and encourages teaching innovation. For this, it launches numerous programs such as MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) on prestigious international platforms such as edX and miriadaX and provides its teachers with the support of the UTEID (Unit of Educational Technology and Teaching Innovation) for the development of their Projects.
Price: Between 22 euros (students from Spain / EU) and 88 (students from outside the European Union) per credit.
15. ESIC University
Founded in 1965 by the priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus under the name of Escuela Superior de Ingenieros Comerciales (ESIC), it later changed its name to ESIC Business and Marketing School. During its beginnings it was a center attached to various universities such as Rey Juan Carlos, in Madrid; Rovira i Virgili, in Catalonia; Miguel Hernández, in the Valencian Community; and San Jorge, in Aragon. However, in 2019, the Madrid Assembly approved a bill authorizing the creation of ESIC University, from which point the institution could begin to issue its own degrees.
With a ratio of teachers / students of 1 / 7.5, ESIC University offers a personalized education in the degrees offered (Business Administration and Management, Advertising and Public Relations, Marketing, Digital Business and International Business) and also in its doubles degrees in which the aforementioned degrees are combined.
Price: 163 euros per credit.
16. Isabel I de Castilla International University
The educational group that make up the Isabel I University and its Foundation constitute an educational group with a large number of future opportunities in the field of higher education, both university and Vocational education . With its own and differentiated style in the Spanish university scene, its objective is to promote innovation and creativity, which are the fundamental values that drive the spirit of this academy.
Sustainable development has also become one of its pillars. Therefore, they are firmly oriented to offer quality programs that serve as a reflection of their commitment throughout the academic offer.
In addition, in line with European and international policies, it has assumed throughout its history the responsibility of promoting real equality between women and men. To do this, it permanently updates all its academic and work activities, with the aim of always being at the forefront within the framework of equal opportunities. As a result of this firm commitment, the Equality Observatory was born with the main objective of studying the situation of both the university community and society as a whole, in terms of equal opportunities between women and men, involving all those involved. agents that compose it.
With a view to the future of the student, this online university offers its students follow-up and attention through its virtual classroom and they have an institution's own techno-pedagogical system.
Price: between 64 and 78 euros per credit.
17. University of Valencia
The mission of the University of Valencia is to teach students science, research and culture; and that they obtain the necessary tools to face the challenges and circumstances of life. This institution wants to be recognized for its offer in quality higher education, international and open to everyone. Also for the ability to offer comprehensive guidance to their students, and for the impact of the results of the research carried out by their teams.
This university is an entire institution in the territory and, therefore, pays special attention to the protection and promotion of its own culture and language, as well as to the study of all the cultural manifestations of its nearby territorial and cultural environment. .
In addition to seeking excellence in all its fields of action, the University of Valencia has constant innovation as a basic pillar and, for this, it stimulates the intellectual development of its community.
Other of its main values, they say, are transparency, commitment to the social and economic progress of society, equality, justice, solidarity and cooperation, and sustainability.
Price: between 13.86 and 20 euros per credit.
18. Camilo José Cela University
The Camilo José Cela University is part of the educational project of the SEK institution, which has its roots in a centuries-old, free and autonomous family tradition, and which is not linked to any religious, political or economic group.
The educational model of the Camilo José Cela University is anchored in three pillars. The first of these is interdisciplinarity, through which they educate people capable of operating in any territory and of facing complex work activities. For this they have what they call La Colmena, a learning method through which students develop transversal skills through entrepreneurship, digitization and social innovation.
The second of its pillars is precisely the innovation they apply in their academic curricula to focus on students and their learning process, which is open, flexible and consistent with the world in which They live.
The third and last of its pillars is the internationalization with which they transmit to their students the necessary tools to become autonomous people capable of directing their professional careers anywhere in the world. For this they have a multicultural teaching staff thanks to their programs to promote diversity both in origin, race and religion as well as in age, sex and gender.
Price: between 90 and 175 euros per credit.
19. University of Vigo
It currently has more than a thousand studies and R&D activities underway.
The University of Vigo has been built on positive values, based on transparency and good management, integration, equality, diversity and respect for the environment. Its big bets are specialization and quality research; and its commitment is the transfer of knowledge to society to enrich the social and economic environment.
Despite being a relatively young university (it was founded in 1990), it has strong values such as rigor, transparency, integration, commitment to diversity and gender equality, caring for the environment and sustainability. In fact, it is, according to a report by the Compromiso y Transparencia Foundation, one of the most transparent academies in the country.
Their objective, they say, is to achieve the highest possible quality, since they consider it essential to develop their mission as a public institution and develop their vision of the future as an innovative reference within the university system and society.
Another of its great commitments and engines of its modernization are social responsibility and the 2030 Agenda. Through its teaching it seeks to create qualified professionals in all areas to contribute to the creation of socially responsible knowledge with the environment, culture, inclusive and sustainable progress, and with democracy.
Price: Between 9.85 and 13.93 euros per credit in the first registration.
20. Catholic University of Avila
This university was born with the purpose of supporting the mission of the Church in the evangelization of culture and is fully identified with the objectives and means indicated by the Constitution Ex corde Ecclesiae and by the General Decree of the Episcopal Conference for its application in Spain. Its mission is to contribute to the promotion and safeguarding of the human being through the transmission of the knowledge of God, but without conditioning religious and academic freedom. Hence, the importance it gives to the Spanish cultural tradition, and to the research and findings of science.
The educational model of the Catholic University of Avila is inspired by Christian humanism and offers the student a comprehensive education, uniting culture, study and research, and a high and solid academic, professional and human education inspired by the values of the Gospel. It aims at a modern and agile teaching, adapted to the social and labor demands of today's world, and to the intellectual concerns of each student.
Learning is developed through a combination of master teaching in which the student participates through personalized tutorials adapted to their needs.
In addition, since 2005, sustainable development has been part of its teaching program, with the intention of transmitting and teaching the knowledge and techniques necessary for caring for the environment.
Their highest priority, they affirm, is to achieve the highest educational quality and to keep constantly improving.
Price: between 50 and 140 euros per credit.