06/10/2008 | Masters and PhD, Choosing a Graduate Program
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The Spanish package proves increasingly popular

Despite the current economic climate, Europe remains a leading destination for education at all levels. Traditional powerhouses such as the UK, Germany and France are being joined by countries including Spain, in attracting increasing numbers of international candidates for postgraduate programs. The emergence of Spain as a leading destination demonstrates an interesting combination of factors that are proving highly popular amongst students and professionals.

The traditional image of a sleepy, slow moving holiday spot is being rapidly overtaken. Indeed a recent Financial Times/Harris survey presented Spain as the most popular destination country for Europeans wanting to live and work abroad. The big pull of lifestyle, culture, and a rapidly growing economy with some rapidly expanding multinational corporations have encouraged many to take the opportunity of relocation. When this is coupled with the fact that Spain also has extremely well established universities with a range of programs focussed on international participants, the overall package has become extremely enticing.

Internationally focused universities

There is a long and distinguished tradition within Spain for higher education. The University of Salamanca is one of the oldest universities in the world, and interestingly the first universities founded in the Americas and Asia were created by Spanish religious orders. Indeed, today some of the top Spanish institutions continue to maintain close links to the Church.

Alongside the traditional public universities Spain also has a growing number of independent and privately owned institutions. 

This combination of institutional approaches has created an innovative approach in a number of fields, particularly within management education.

IESE Business School (Barcelona) was the first school in Europe to offer a traditional two year MBA program in 1963, and has become one of the most highly ranked business schools globally. It has been joined in the past decade by ESADE and IE Business Schools (Barcelona and Madrid respectively) in the top ranks of global schools, providing international participants with a wide range of high quality Masters programs in the area of management.

There has been a long term interest for international students with Spain. Indeed it has been one of the most popular international exchange destinations for undergraduate students with around 21,000 US students alone studying in Spain on an annual basis at top institutions like the Universities of Salamanca, Barcelona and Compultense de Madrid.  This trend looks set to continue, as Spain is firmly committed to the Bologna accord which will see the standardization of European higher education. This process will standardize undergraduate and postgraduate programs throughout Europe, allowing for greater comparability and transferability of degrees, and therefore a higher level of student mobility on the continent. 

Spanish Institutions are preparing for this opportunity with new and innovative projects such as IE University, offering both undergraduate and Masters programs delivered in English. With a wide number of programs from disciplines such as architecture to international relations, the university draws on the anglo-saxon education model, giving participants the opportunity to major in their chosen discipline whilst also completing a minor in management. 

Language and culture  

Although there is an increasing number of Masters programs being delivered in English, one of the biggest draws of studying in Spain is the opportunity of learning the Spanish language and immersion in the culture. Spanish is reckoned to be the third most spoken language globally. Widely spoken in Latin America, it also the second most prevalent language in the USA. As such it has become perhaps the second lingua franca of business. The length of a Masters program offers students a great opportunity to gain a working knowledge of the language. 

Spain has undergone and is continuing to see rapid cultural change. Opening up in the 1980’s and 90’s after the Franco period, factors such as immigration (10% of the Spanish population are now immigrants), the current government’s focus on domestic social policies has helped to create a diverse and increasingly internationally focused society. Proud traditions however remain – huge fiestas, fantastic cuisine, all create a distinct Spanish experience   

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