Spain

With a well developed educational sector, prestigious universities, low tuition fees and living costs, Spain is a firm favourite with international students, attracting nearly 40,000 each year to its higher educational institutions.

Embassy of Spain

12, Prithviraj Road, Near Claridge's Hotel, New Delhi, Delhi 110011

+91 11 4129 3000

Basic information

Located in Western Europe, covers most of the Iberian Peninsula, and has two archipelagos (the Balearic Islands and the Canary islands) and two autonomous cities in North Africa - Ceuta and Melilla. Spain is divided into 17 autonomous regions and 2 autonomous cities. The form of Government is a Parliamentary monarchy. Is a country member of the European Union and a non-confessional state, where Catholicism is the main religion.

Spain is the 14th largest economy in the world, the 4th largest in the European Union and 2nd largest investor in Latin America, after the USA. Similarly, Spain ranks as the world's 10th scientific power and the main research areas where Spain has a large science base are health, ICT, Environment, Food and Agriculture, Energy, Material Sciences and Social Sciences. Spanish companies are internationally recognized for their leadership in clean technologies, health and biotechnology, engineering infrastructure, ICT, manufacturing technologies, financial services and tourism, amongst others. ,

Spain is one of the most diverse and culturally rich countries in Europe. Culturally, is mainly a Latin country with great strength of the Roman heritage, but with many influences in art and architecture, cuisine and music from many countries across Europe and the Mediterranean, through its long history. Owing to such a rich cultural past, Spain has gained a prominent place in the world map as far as higher education is concerned. In 2021 Spain ranked 4th in terms of its number of UNESCO world cultural sites, justs behind Germany.

Basic Education System

Spanish higher education system is formed by 87 universities (50 public, rest private), 322 research institutes and 78 science and technology parks, all distributed throughout the Spanish territory and the cities that concentrate the largest number of universities are Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia.

  • Academic excellence, international recognition and research capacity of Spanish Universities: 55 Spanish Universities (out of 85) are among the 1000 best in the world (according to ARWU, THE and QS rankings 2020). 15 Spanish universities appear in the QS Graduate Employability ranking in 2020 among the 500 best universities in the world in employability. Spanish universities contribute to 2/3 to the total scientific production of Spain with international visibility.
  • Worldwide leading MBA Schools IESE, Instituto de Empresa and ESADE: in the top 20 Global MBA School (Financial Times 2019) and top 10 European Business Schools ranking (Financial Times 2019).
  • Value of Spanish as language: Spanish is the second most spoken language in the world, after Mandarin Chinese, and the primary, official or co-official language of 21 countries.
  • Recognition of Spanish University titles in 47 member countries of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA): this facilitates as well the approval and recognition of Spanish qualifications in other countries outside Europe, like the USA, Asia and Latin America.
  • Spanish university entrance exam is not required for foreign students at some public Universities and in most private Universities.
  • Preferred destination for postgraduate students and researchers from Latin America as well as top notch destination for European university students under the Erasmus Programme.
  • Tuition fees and cost of living are lower compared to other European countries.

How much it will cost? 
Bachelor Degree:  740 - 8,160 euros a year depending on the particular study programme.

The prices of enrolment in official Master’s Programs in public Universities range 800 – 19,000 euros per academic year.
PhD programmnes’ fees at public Universities range 60 – 400 euros per year.
Fees at private universities are established by the university itself.
Living Expenses for a year: 900-1,100 euros a month, depending on the city.

Scholarships

Scholarships available to Indian students and researchers:

EU / NATIONAL & REGIONAL LEVEL

Erasmus Plus Programme
http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/documents/erasmus-plus-leaflet_en.pdf
http://ec.europa.eu/erasmus-plus

European Research Council funding schemes (open to top researchers funding schemes are open to top researchers of any nationality or age who wish to carry out their frontier research in the 28 EU Member States or associated countries). http://erc.europa.eu/funding-schemes

Marie Slodowska Curie Actions - Research Fellowship Programme (grants for all stages of researchers' careers - be they doctoral candidates or highly experienced researchers - , irrespective of their nationality, and encourage transnational, intersectoral and interdisciplinary mobility).
http://ec.europa.eu/research/mariecurieactions/

Spanish Agency for International Co-operation and Aid - AECID (Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Spain). https://www.aecid.gob.es/es/Paginas/Convocatorias-y-procedimientos-activos.aspx (in Spanish)

Region of Madrid – Funding opportunities: http://www.madrimasd.org/en

TALENTIA POSTDOC FELLOWSHIPS (2 year fellowship co-financed by the Marie Curie Programme of the European Union, to experienced researchers).
https://www.juntadeandalucia.es/economiaconocimientoempresasyuniversidad/talentia/?q=node/12602

UNIVERSITIES / INSTITUTIONS
PEIN Research Excellence Programme USC - India India (Universidad Santiago de Compostela). http://www.usc.es/en/perfis/internacional/programas/pein_usc_india/

NCBS-inStem (India) - CRG (Spain) POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIPS
http://www.crg.eu/es/content/training-postdoctoral-researchers/joint-postdoctoral-ncbs-crg-postdoctoral-fellowship-program
https://www.crg.eu/

PORTALS / SCHOLARSHIP SEARCH ENGINES
SEPIE’s Scholarship search engine: https://www.educacion.gob.es/socrates/internacionalizacionbecas/mantenimientobecas.do

EURAXESS SPAIN (for Research Positions and Fellowships in Spain): https://www.euraxess.es/

SCHOLARSHIP SEARCH ENGINES: http://www.studyinspain.info/en/prepara-tu-viaje/como-financiar-tus-estudios/;jsessionid=8B3ABDF291C724CC25C41159C8AEB617

Work and Career Opportunities:
Employers prefer candidates who have an elementary knowledge of Spanish. Engineering is an area where job prospects are more promising. Opportunity to work for Spanish MNCs present worldwide and leaders in several sectors like energy, environment, ICT, engineering and construction companies, tourism and financial sector, amongst others. Additionally, a work experience in Spain may provide an avenue to the dynamic markets of Latin America and North Africa.
A student can work on a part time basis during the study program. However, the student has to ensure that the work does not affect his/her studies or research hours.
Upon graduation from a Bachelor, Master or PhD degree students can obtain a one year residence permit for job search or to set up a company.

Industries:
Spanish companies are internationally recognized for their leadership in clean technologies, health and biotechnology, engineering infrastructure, ICT, manufacturing technologies, financial services and tourism, amongst others.
Main research areas where Spain has a large science base are health, ICT, Environment, Food and Agriculture, Energy, Material Sciences and Social Sciences.

Application Process to Universities- 

ADMISSION TO OFFICIAL DEGREES
Bachelor's Degree -  In order to study for the Spanish Grado (equivalent of a Bachelor's degree) students must decide whether they want to start their studies from the begining (starting their studies in Spain) or if they would like to continue their Grado studies (Bachelor's degree) that they have already initiated in their own countries.

Starting University Studies in Spain:

  1. Students who hold a pre-university degree equivalent to the Spanish one, or students who have completed pre-university studies in countries of the European Union (EU), Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, Liechenstein or China should use their corresponding title and follow the admission procedure determined established by the university where they would like  to study.
  2. Students who have not completed secondary education in a member state of the European Union, Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, Liechenstein or China, or students from the rest of the world with recognized foreign qualifications should obtain official recognition of equivalence to Spanish Bachiller certificate on academic credentials and follow the admission procedure determined by the university where they would like  to study.

University studies that have already been initiated: students who have started university studies in another country and who wish to continue their studies in Spain, or Spaniards that, having finished their university studies abroad, have not obtained recognized qualification and want to continue their studies in a Spanish university should get in contact with the Spanish university where they would like to continue their undergraduate studies.

Postgraduate (Master and Doctoral Studies):
Foreign students interested in carrying out master's or doctoral studies in Spain should apply directly to the Spanish university where they would like to study.

  1. Master - to be admitted on a master's program, students must meet one of these requirements:
    1. be in possession of a bachelor's degree obtained at a university in Spain or in a country of the European Higher Education Area; or
    2. be in possession of a bachelor's degree obtained at a university in a country other than those indicated above. The Spanish university must be satisfied with the level of the studies leading to this degree regarding its  is equivalency to the bachelor's degree in Spain.
  2. Doctorate - In general, in order to access an official doctorate program, it is necessary to have a bachelor's degree or the Spanish equivalent and an official Master's degree.

ADMISSION TO NON-OFFICIAL DEGREES
Non-official degrees have diverse program lengths, names and requirements. Considering that these programs are approved by the same issuing university., the requirements vary according to the university that is offering the degree. They may be Bachelor's or Master's studies and therefore, generally require, for either case, that students send their official degree and grades of any studies initiated or completed already.
In order to be admitted into a Spanish university, It is not necessary for international students with a university degree to obtain official recognition. When a foreign student with university studies wants to enrol in a Spanish university in order to obtain a Bachelor's, Master's or Doctorate degree, they must follow the procedure established  in the Spanish university. Although it is not necessary to obtain official recognition of an international university degree, when a foreign student wants to do postgraduate studies, the university will validate their degree allowing the student access to the Spanish university.
http://sepie.es/internacionalizacion/study.html

Visa Process
http://www.exteriores.gob.es/Embajadas/NUEVADELHI/en/InformacionParaExtranjeros/Pages/National-Visas-GI.aspx

Accommodation Information
The International Offices of Spanish Universities have a facilitation desk where all information regarding accommodation. logistics and related information is provided to the international students.

For Further Information

Related Universities