Scholarships in Spain
The scholarship system in Spain has undergone various modifications in recent times. Do you want to know its current status?
To study a university degree in Spain, you must take into account the tuition payment. This payment is mandatory for all students, with a few exceptions.
The tuition payment is what is known as the payment of academic fees and it is divided into two: academic payments and administrative payments. The first of these depends on the number of credits in which the student has enrolled and the degree of difficulty or experimental nature of the degree. In the second case we are talking about payment for opening a file, enrollment processing, student card, sending of materials for the qualifications and school insurance, among others.
We must specify that the price will not vary depending on the subjects taken in an academic cycle, but on the credits. A course is usually made up of 60 credits and the price of each of them will be subject to the degree of experimental nature that each degree has. Only during the first year or academic course will it be mandatory to enroll in all subjects, so that in that first course, the student will pay an enrollment based on the maximum number of credits.
The price may increase as the degree progresses, if for example, the student enrolls twice in the same subject.
Why should you know this information? Because you should know that studying a university degree in Spain costs money, whether you choose a public or private university. Of course, public institutions will always be more affordable in terms of costs.
But now that you know this information, would you like to know how the scholarship system in Spain works?
Scholarship system in Spain
How it works:
The Ministry of Education of Spain has its own scholarship system, intended for young people who wish to access higher education and do not have the means to cover the expense this generates.
This scholarship system was modified in the 2013-2014 academic year and now the amount is divided into a fixed part and a variable part.
The types of scholarships included in this new system are: compensatory financial aid for students with fewer resources, mobility scholarships for those students who must live away from the family home, tuition payment exemption scholarships and the respective variable scholarship we mentioned before.
The financial aid scholarships for lower-income students provide the student with $1,500 euros per month.
The mobility scholarships for those students who must live away from the family home due to their studies will be another $1,500 euros.
The tuition fee exemption scholarships will allow you to access the study program you want, without needing to pay for your enrollment, since you have been awarded a scholarship and therefore tuition payment is the responsibility of the state. The Ministry of Education will be responsible for paying the institution, so you, in that case, will not have to intervene in any way.
We said before that the new Spanish scholarship system has a fixed part and a variable part, the fixed part is the one we discussed previously when talking about financial aid scholarships and mobility scholarships, while the variable part is made up of the rest of the budget that the state has allocated to the call. In the variable part, aspects such as the number of students receiving the scholarship, the average grade of the beneficiary and the rest of the scholarship holders in the same field of knowledge and the student's income level are evaluated, based on this an amount is assigned to the scholarship holder.
Requirements:
It is important to talk about the requirements that the state scholarship system requires for those interested in participating in the call.
We can divide the requirements depending on the type of scholarship. First we will talk about the requirements for tuition fee exemption and then about the requirements to obtain the monetary scholarship.
To be able to access the tuition fee exemption, students entering the university system from high school will have to achieve a 5.5 average calculated between the secondary school grade and the score on the university entrance exam. If the student comes from Higher Vocational Training or others, they must achieve a 5.5 in the final grade of their studies.
If we focus on the monetary scholarship, which corresponds to financial aid, mobility and other financial support through which the student accesses cash, the grade to be achieved will have to be 6.5, averaging the high school grade and the entrance exam grade. For those entering from higher FP or others, 6.5 must be achieved in the final average of their studies.
In addition to this, students who wish to keep the benefit they have obtained will have to maintain an optimal academic performance, which is due to two specific reasons. The first is that to continue being beneficiaries they will be required to pass all the subjects in which the student enrolls. The second reason refers to returning the money received through the scholarship if they fail more than 50% of subjects.
Another requirement in the Spanish scholarship system is not to exceed the financial thresholds set by the program. For example, those who wish to receive the 1,500 euros financial aid scholarship and belong to three-member families may not exceed annual earnings of 10,600 euros. And to obtain exemption from tuition payment in a household with three members, the threshold of approximately 32,600 per year may not be exceeded.
The scholarships from Spain's Ministry of Education can be applied for during the months of August, September, and October, since this is generally when applications open.
