Incoming
Students
The
Higher Education System in Spain
The following official degrees can be obtained at Spanish
universities:
Bachelor's
Degrees, 3-year Engineering Degrees, and 3-year Architecture Degrees (Diplomado,
Ingeniero Técnico or Arquitecto Técnico): These are
described as "first cycle" courses and they usually have a duration of
three years.
Bachelor's Degreees with Honours, Engineering Degrees and
Architecture Degrees (Licenciado, Ingeniero or Arquitecto Superior):
In these courses, after completing the first cycle, students undertake
a second, in-depth cycle for specialization in their respective fields
and preparation for their professional area. The total duration of
these courses is usually four or five years.
Doctor:
Admission to doctoral studies is only possible for graduates with a
Licenciado, Ingeniero or Arquitecto Superior degree. Doctoral students
must complete a series of courses for two academic years with a minimum
of 32 credits (320 hours) and present a doctoral thesis, which must be
approved. The thesis must be original research into material related to
the scientific, technical or artistic field of the doctoral program
undertaken by the student.
The autonomy of the Spanish universities enables them to organize
non-official postgraduate and specialized professional courses, which
are extremely important for the completion of a student's academic
curriculum and the attainment of a professional specialization.
Students who complete these courses obtain the corresponding diploma or
university degree.
Curriculum or Study Programme
The curriculum is the group of subjects organized by the
university. If completed, the student has the right to a degree.
The
credit (crédito) is the assessment unit. It
corresponds to ten contact hours ( theoretical plus practical
teaching). Credits
are obtained by the appropriate verification of acquired knowledge.
This assessment is generally in the form of written or occasionally
oral examinations, established by each university.
Subjects
(Asignaturas) included in the curriculum may be:
Majors (Asignaturas
troncales): Compulsory material in all
curricula leading to an official degree. They represent 30% of the
subject load during the first cycle and 25% in the second cycle.
Compulsory
Subjects (Asignaturas obligatorias): These are designated by the
university as compulsory for the student within the corresponding
curriculum.
Electives
Subjects (Asignaturas optativas): The university establishes
these subjects for students to choose from.
Free-choice
Subjects (Materias de libre elección): All
curricula must devote at least 10% of all credits to this type of
material, which the student will apply to subjects, seminars or other
activities he/she can choose freely from given by the university or
another university, if permitted by the corresponding joint agreement.
|
