Spain

Tuition

Spain has no single nationwide tuition rate: each of the 17 autonomous communities sets its own annual public-price decree (precio público) per ECTS credit, differentiated by the degree's official 'level of experimentality' and by enrolment attempt (first enrolment is cheapest; repeating a subject costs more). In the Madrid region, for example, first-enrolment Bachelor's ('Grado') credits for EU/EEA and Spanish-resident students cost around EUR 12.60-16.92 per ECTS for 2025/26, while foreign students who are neither EU/EEA nationals nor legally resident in Spain are generally billed at the highest repeat-enrolment tier: around EUR 31.92 per credit for Bachelor's and EUR 84.07 per credit for Master's, per Universidad Complutense de Madrid's own published fee schedule, unless their home country has a reciprocity or exchange agreement with Spain or they hold Spanish permanent residency. Master's fees at public universities generally range from about EUR 1,000 to EUR 3,500 a year across Spain. On top of tuition, all students pay small fixed administrative and compulsory student-insurance fees (from a few euros up to roughly EUR 30). Private universities set their own fees independently and can charge up to about EUR 20,000 a year. Given this regional and per-university variation, prospective students should always check the current public-price decree and fee schedule of their target region and university. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

Visa

National (category D) study visa for stays of more than 90 days, followed by a long-term stay authorisation for studies (autorización de estancia de larga duración por estudios) issued by the Spanish immigration authorities; for study stays of 90 days or less, only the short-stay national visa is required. — 30 hours per week. ^{[4] [5] [6] [7]}

Applications

Spain has no single centralised national application portal; applicants generally apply directly to each university alongside, where required, the separate UNEDasiss credential process. Non-EU/EEA applicants whose secondary-school qualification is not automatically recognised for Spanish university access must first obtain the UNEDasiss access credential ('Calificación de Acceso') - a credential-evaluation process that for many students also involves entrance exams (PCE) and should be started many months ahead of the intended start date. For Bachelor's ('Grado') programmes starting in the autumn term, most universities run their main 'preinscripción' from around mid-June to the first week of July, commonly with an extended deadline into late July for international applicants and further vacancy-based admission rounds into September; Universitat Politècnica de València is one example of a university that publishes such an extended international deadline. Master's programmes typically use several rolling intake phases spread from around November to September, with exact dates set individually by each university and programme. Because timelines vary by region, university and programme, applicants should always confirm the current dates directly with their target institution. ^{[8] [9] [10] [11]}

Application portals

• UNEDasiss (UNED)

Language

Castellano, Català, Euskara, Gallego, Valencià. Spanish (Castilian) is the main language of instruction at most universities; the co-official regional languages are also used for teaching, alongside Castilian, in their respective territories. English-taught provision is smaller than in some neighbouring countries but has grown steadily, concentrated in Master's, MBA and some Bachelor's programmes, especially at private universities, business schools and technical faculties: Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, for example, reports more than 80 of its 400-plus master's and postgraduate programmes taught in English. ^{[12] [1] [13]}

Health insurance

Non-EU/EEA students applying for the Spanish study visa must show health insurance, from an insurer authorised to operate in Spain, that provides cover comparable to Spain's public healthcare package - 100% of medical, hospital and outpatient costs, with no deductibles, co-payments or coverage limits - for the whole authorised stay; both qualifying public and private policies are accepted. EU/EEA and Swiss students can generally use their European Health Insurance Card (Tarjeta Sanitaria Europea), applied for through their home country's social-security institution, to access Spain's public healthcare system on the same terms as Spanish nationals during a temporary stay. This is general orientation, not individual insurance or legal advice. ^{[5] [4] [14]}

Universities

• Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM), Madrid ^[16]
• Universitat de Barcelona (UB), Barcelona ^[17]
• Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Barcelona ^[18]
• Universidad de Salamanca (USAL), Salamanca ^[19]
• Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), Valencia ^[10]

Scholarships

• Erasmus+ — The EU's programme for education, training, youth and sport funds student and traineeship mobility periods at partner institutions, including exchange semesters or full study periods in Spain, through grants that contribute to travel and living costs during the mobility; exact grant amounts depend on the destination country group and the national or institutional agency administering the funds. ^[20]
• Becas MAEC-AECID para ciudadanos de América Latina, África y Asia — Scholarship calls of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), part of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for nationals of eligible Latin American, African and Asian countries (and, in some calls, Ukraine) to pursue postgraduate study, diplomatic training or specific master's programmes in Spain. Benefits typically include a monthly stipend, international travel and health insurance in Spain; scope and quotas are set separately by each yearly sub-call, such as the 'Escuela Diplomática' and 'Africa-Med Máster' calls for the 2026/27 academic year. ^[21]
• Becas Fundación Carolina — A Spain-based scholarship programme, backed by Spanish public funding channelled through AECID, supporting postgraduate, doctoral and short-stay/mobility study in Spain for nationals of the Ibero-American Community of Nations. The 2026/27 call announced through Spain's embassy network offered 228 postgraduate scholarships and 120 doctoral/short postdoctoral-stay scholarships, alongside 114 doctoral-scholarship renewals; postgraduate applications ran from 12 January to 2 March 2026, and doctoral/short-stay/mobility applications from 12 January to 9 April 2026. ^[22]