Universities in Spain for International Students

Checked against official sources on 10 October 2026

There are 95 active universities in Spain in the 2025-26 academic year, 50 public and 45 private, according to the ministry's statistics. All of them award the same three official degrees: bachelor's degree (grado), master's and doctorate. For international students, the main questions are how a foreign school-leaving qualification gives access, what tuition costs and how to check that a degree is official. This guide answers them from the legal texts and the ministry's own data.

How many universities in Spain are public or private

The ministry's university statistics count the universities with activity each year. The latest figures are for 2025-26.

The number of public universities has stayed at 50 through the whole series, which starts in 2015-16. The number of private universities in Spain has grown from 32 to 45 in the same period.

Public universities are created, and private universities are recognised, by an act of the regional parliament or of the national parliament. Both award official degrees that are valid in the whole country. The practical differences are in admission and in fees, covered below. The directory of universities in Spain lists them by city.

How the degrees work

Royal Decree 822/2021 sets three cycles:

• Bachelor's degree (grado): 240 ECTS credits, at 60 credits per academic year, so four years. Degrees governed by specific legislation or by European Union rules have 300 or 360 credits.
• Master's degree (máster universitario): 60, 90 or 120 ECTS credits.
• Doctorate: entry normally requires a bachelor's and a master's that together add up to at least 300 ECTS credits. It lasts at most four years full time.

Universities also offer their own qualifications (títulos propios). These are not official degrees, and the decree says their name and format may not cause confusion with official ones.

Admission with a foreign school-leaving qualification

Royal Decree 534/2024 regulates access to bachelor's degrees. It separates two groups of applicants from foreign education systems.

EU, International Baccalaureate and agreement countries

Three groups can enter without sitting the Spanish university entrance exam (PAU). The first is students from the education systems of European Union member states, or of other states with a reciprocal agreement, who meet the requirements for university entry at home. The other two are holders of the European Baccalaureate and holders of the International Baccalaureate Diploma. They do not need to homologate their qualification. Their access grade is the grade obtained in their own studies.

In practice the grade is converted by UNEDasiss, the service of the distance university UNED that assesses the academic records of international students. Its accreditation converts the original grades to the Spanish scale. Applicants who want a higher admission grade may sit specific competence tests (PCE); UNEDasiss recommends at least two. Its list of systems on this route goes beyond the EU and includes, among others, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Norway, China and Colombia.

Other countries

Students from other education systems need their studies to meet the requirements for homologation with the Spanish Bachillerato. For a public university, UNEDasiss states that they need its accreditation and must sit PCE exams; it recommends at least four subjects. Admission requirements differ between public and private universities, and for a private university the applicant must check its own admission procedure.

Dates

The application period for UNEDasiss accreditation opens on 4 February and closes on 1 December each year. UNEDasiss recommends applying at least six weeks before the university's closing date. The PCE exams have two sessions, in May or June and in September. Public universities usually close pre-registration in the first days of July. As an example, the deadline for international students applying to public universities for the 2026-27 academic year was 7 July 2026.

Degrees taught in English

There is no official list of "English universities in Spain". What the ministry offers is its search tool Qué estudiar y dónde en la universidad (QEDU), built with data from the RUCT register and the university information system. Its filters include teaching mode, type of university (public or private) and "Idioma extranjero" (foreign language, yes or no). The tool is in Spanish and the ministry describes its information as for guidance only. The language of each subject should therefore be confirmed in the study plan the university publishes.

Tuition: public prices per credit

For official degrees at public universities, the price of a credit is a public price set by each autonomous community. The latest ministry statistics are for the 2024-25 academic year. The table gives the average price of a bachelor's credit at first enrolment, in euros. A full year is 60 credits.

These are averages of the degrees taught in the public universities' own centres, rounded to two decimals. Prices also vary by field of study and rise when a subject is repeated. They do not apply to private universities, which set and publish their own fees. A list of scholarships for studying in Spain is available on this site.

How to check a degree in the RUCT

Official degrees must be entered in the Register of Universities, Centres and Degrees (RUCT). The register is public. According to the ministry, it shows whether a university is official and whether it is public or private, which universities offer a degree and how its study plan is structured. Steps:

• Open the RUCT and choose the universities section to confirm that the institution is listed.
• Use the degrees section to search for the exact name of the degree and its level: Grado, Máster or Doctorado.
• If a programme does not appear, ask the university whether it is one of its own qualifications.
• Check with the university which admission route applies to your school qualification, and its deadlines.
• Look up the public price per credit for that region, or the private university's fee list.

Schools that are not universities are listed under higher education centres in Spain.

Frequently asked questions

How many universities are there in Spain?

The ministry counts 95 universities with activity in the 2025-26 academic year: 50 public and 45 private.

Do international students have to sit the Spanish entrance exam?

Not if they come from an EU education system or one with a reciprocal agreement, or hold the European Baccalaureate or the International Baccalaureate Diploma. Other applicants to public universities normally sit PCE exams through UNEDasiss.

Are private universities in Spain official?

A private university recognised by law awards official degrees. The RUCT register shows whether a university is official and whether it is public or private.

How long is a bachelor's degree in Spain?

A bachelor's degree has 240 ECTS credits at 60 credits per academic year, which is four years. Some degrees have 300 or 360 credits.