Spain is a country located in South-Western Europe. Spain is the second largest country in the European Union. Spain’s population exceeds 47 mil. The capital Madrid is its most populous city.
Spain is a highly developed industrial-agrarian country. In terms of volume of industrial production it ranks fifth in Europe and eighth worldwide. The most developed sectors are mechanical engineering, car-making, ship-building, aircraft manufacturing, electrical engineering, chemical, and textile industries.
Strong post-war growth and trade development placed the country’s economy 13th worldwide in 2010, the GDP per capita rates exceeding the EU average, ahead of.
There are 76 tertiary educational establishments in Spain, most of them being state-controlled. Some American universities also have branches in Spain – such as Schiller International University, St Louis University, and Suffolk University – in Madrid.
Bachelor’s programs: 4 yrs.
Master’s programs: 2 yrs.
The teaching methods at Spanish universities comprise classes, seminars, and practical exercises, classes being prevalent. Unlike other educational systems, attendance of classes in most universities in Spain is not mandatory but is recommendable.
Most programs are taught in Spanish or in any of the regional languages, such as Catalan, but Spain is involved in a project to internationalise Spanish tertiary education and promote more and more programs being taught in English to attract more international students.
The number of students in Spain is approximately 1.8 mil., some 3% thereof being international students. These figures are relatively high for a country, whose population is 47 mil. The large groups of first-year students in Bachelor’s and Master’s programs is a major issue for the universities (to put it otherwise – you need to go to classes early or you risk standing up). Nevertheless, many of the first-year students fail the tough exams and drop out. According to data of the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, more women than men manage to complete their education and graduate successfully. The main groups of international students in Spain are: one third Europeans (mostly Italians and Romanians), Colombians, and Moroccans, as well as the growing percentage of Asian students in recent years. At some universities, the international students studying for Master’s degree, form at least a third of the total number of students, with those studying for doctoral degree being at least 1/2 out of the total number.
One of the specialties most desired by would-be students is law, mostly at the Madrid universities. Other specialties international would-be students are Philosophy, Music, Marketing and Finance, Hotel-Keeping, and Microbiology.
In recent years several universities in Spain took leading positions in the QS World University Rankings® 2018 for business programs. These are:
ESADE Ramon Llull University – ranked 21st
IE Business School – ranked 44th
According to the overall QS World University Rankings® 2018 for the best universities, worldwide, there are no Spanish universities worthy of making the top 200.
29 of the Spanish universities feature in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings. According to it, Pompeu Fabra University is the most esteemed one, ranking 140th.
Here is a list of the most esteemed universities, according to global rankings:
