Universities of Barcelona are among the best educational institutions not only in Spain, but also in Europe. Despite the fact that the overall rating of Spanish universities is not very high, it is the higher education institutions (universities) of Catalonia that are famous for the quality of their education. This article will focus on the best universities in Barcelona according to their national rating.
A Brief History of Universities in the Region
The first schools of a civil and church nature, according to general archival data, began to appear in Barcelona in the XIII century. In 1402, King Martin I the Humane issued a decree according to which all schools in Barcelona were to study medical sciences and arts. In 1450, another king, Alfonso V, unified all disparate schools in Barcelona, and at that time its main universities began to form.
From the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries, the number of universities in Barcelona continues to increase, buildings are being built for them, and the main faculties are being formed. The XIX century was marked by the official opening of new buildings for some educational institutions, for example, for the University of Barcelona, as well as obtaining autonomy.
In the XX century, the life of universities in this Spanish city was very difficult, since with the advent of the dictatorship of Franco in 1939, a period of repression began that affected the scientific community. Only in 1977 did the period of normalization of university life begin, modernization and democratization of the learning process at universities in Barcelona, which again received autonomy only in the 90s of the XX century.
The main universities of Barcelona
When compiling a list of the main universities in Barcelona, experts are based on the area they occupy and the number of students studying in them. According to recently published official data of the Organization for Education and Development in Barcelona, the three main universities in this city of Catalonia are the following:
- Pompeu Fabra University (UPF);
- Autonomous University of Barcelona (AUB);
- University of Barcelona (UB).
These universities occupy leading positions not only in the autonomous region of Catalonia, but throughout Spain. In addition to these three, two more universities are among the top best educational institutions in the country. These are the Polytechnic University of Catalonia and the European University of Barcelona.
Best University of Spain
Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) is the most important university in Barcelona, which has a high quality education. This is the only university in Spain, which is among the 200 best educational institutions in the world. In addition, UPF ranks seventh on the list of young and fast-growing universities in the world.
It was founded in 1990, so its main priorities are freedom, democracy, justice, equality, independence and diversity. It is these values that teachers are trying to instill in their students, in addition to providing knowledge in the main subjects of each specialty. Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona prepares bachelors in 24 areas, masters in 28 and doctors of science in 9 areas. The following faculties exist in it:
- humanitarian sciences;
- medical sciences;
- polytechnic sciences;
- economics and management;
- political and social sciences;
- communications;
- right;
- language translation.
In addition, UPF University owns six additional centers and three campuses - campuses, which have the following faculties:
- social sciences and humanities (Ciutadeia campus);
- information technology and communications (Poblenou Communications Campus);
- Biomedical Sciences (Mar campus).
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Autonomous University of Barcelona (AUB) was founded in 1968 and is located mainly on the Bejaterra campus in the province of Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Bayes. In addition to this campus, some faculties of the university are located in Manresa and Sant Sugat del Bayes. This is the second university in the Spanish ranking. More than 37 thousand students study at AUB, and more than three thousand professors work.
When creating the university in 1968, the aim was to establish four autonomous principles: free hiring of teaching staff, free admission of students, free editing of curricula, free management of university audiences to avoid overcrowding by students. The university is built relatively far from the city, but at the same time it can be easily and quickly reached.
The following faculties exist in AUB:
- engineering;
- biological sciences;
- sciences and communications;
- political and sociological sciences;
- rights;
- economics and Management;
- philosophy;
- medicine;
- psychology;
- language translation;
- veterinary.
University of Barcelona
This is the oldest university in the city, it was founded in 1450. Its main building is located on Gran Bia de las Cortes Catalanas. He is included in the ranking of the best universities in the country and occupies an honorable third place in it.
University of Barcelona faculties are located in different parts of the city. So, in addition to the main building, the buildings are located on the Diagonal campus and in the province of Barcelona: Bayeux de Hebron (Valle de Hebrón). The university has the second largest library in Spain, which includes 1,611,721 volumes.
This educational institution has created the largest number of faculties among universities in Spain. It is worth mentioning that some of them are the best in the country, for example, the Department of Chemistry of the University of Barcelona, according to the newspaper El Mundo, is the country's best place to study this discipline.
Over the course of more than 500 years of existence, the university has graduated a large number of experts and famous scientists from Spain.
European University of Barcelona
Currently, this university has the name Business School. It is part of a network of European business schools, which are also open in Switzerland and Germany. The university has the following features:
- classes in all subjects are held in English;
- students have great mobility with the possibility of studying not only in Spain, but also in other European countries;
- The teaching staff of the university is engaged not only in theory, but also in practice.
- this university is a leader among Spanish universities in the percentage of students employed by profession after graduation.
The university has been working in Barcelona for 40 years, during which time it has graduated more than twenty-five thousand specialists in the field of economics and business.
Barcelona study reviews
Feedback from people who studied and study at various universities in this Spanish city, in general, are positive regarding the faculty, the quality of education and the convenient location of universities. Students also note a friendly atmosphere in educational institutions and say that the best years of their life have passed there.
Negative reviews are also found on the Internet, in which former students complain about the cleanliness of the hostels and uncomfortable furniture in the classrooms of the old University of Barcelona.