• Education.Manuel Castells toughens the creation of universities to put a stop to private 'chiringuitos'

  • Education.Castells raises campus 'American style' and reduces civil servant power: professors may be workforce

  • Education Isabel Celaá irritates the rectors by imposing a university entrance test for foreigners

Public universities are emptying in degrees.

The drop in population and the recent prominence that private campuses have acquired have caused a change in the profile of the student body.

In the next five years, if the current trend continues, there will be more students in private classrooms than in public ones.

This is predicted by the report from the

Knowledge and Development Foundation (CYD),

which also warns that one in four public undergraduate degrees has left at least

25%

of the places offered unfilled.

The number of students enrolled in cycles and degrees in the public system has been falling for two decades: from

1.45

million students who were counted in the 2000/2001 academic year to

1.1

now.

Meanwhile, the number of those enrolled in the private sector has practically doubled during this period, reaching

210,000

students.

In the case of the official master, there is a growth in enrollment in both networks, but that of the public ones is lower than that of the private ones.

Why?

"Because the population of those between 18 and 22 years old is decreasing and that translates into fewer people who are studying for degrees. But there is also a greater demand for private studies. Students are willing to pay four or five times more because they give more access facilities and because they have better job placement results, as shown by Social Security data ", responds the professor of Economics at the University of Barcelona

Martí Parellada

, coordinator of the work that was presented this Thursday.

Last year there were

87

active universities in Spain,

50

public and

37

private.

Since 1998, the year of creation of the last of the 50 Spanish public campuses, the private ones have been increasing "significantly both in number and in their participation rate in the group of enrolled students," the report states.

In the same period, slightly more than 50% of the currently existing private universities have been built.

The rate of creation is between two and four new campuses each year.

The most recent are those promoted by

Abanca

and the

Planeta

group

.

At the same time, there is a "mismatch" between that falling demand in the public sector and an increasingly numerous offer of degrees.

The

13.2%

of degrees grade had during 2019/2020 an occupancy rate of 50% or less and

11.4%

further has an occupancy rate between 51% and 75%.

This means that one out of every four degrees has left 25% or more of the places offered that could be covered with new entrants.

"It would be necessary to rationalize the number of degrees, because they involve a cost of public resources," emphasizes Perellada, who does not see much sense for two neighboring universities, located in the same city, to offer at the same time a career with few students.

He also asks that this offer "be adapted to the job market, because new job needs are emerging that the university does not assume."

The report calls for "an evolution of the governance model of the public university so that it can develop its full potential and scope."

Or, in the simplest words of Perellada: "We must give more autonomy to public companies to establish specific remuneration policies, because it is the way to compete and attract talent."

The changes that Manuel Castells wants to make go along these lines: he proposes a professional path for hired teachers with the same rights as civil servants.

But his approach, in tune with the Anglo-Saxon liberal model, clashes with the ideology of

Podemos

and that is why the reform is going to be left half: it will not allow the best to pay more.

On the other hand, the minister is going to toughen the creation of new universities and raise quality requirements in a decree that is interpreted as a way to block the way to the

private

online

campuses

that have proliferated in recent years.

"It is good to introduce more rigor in the creation of new universities, which are fundamentally private," says Parellada, who warns that the rule prepared by the Ministry could bring "more bureaucracy."

The perfect path, in his opinion, would be that of the

US

colleges

, which are not considered universities because they do not research but provide quality teaching and have the capacity to offer recognized degrees.

What happens is that "there is an excess of regulation" that prevents the centers from acting "with autonomy" to establish their own hiring policies.

This model has to compete with that of private companies, which is more flexible in recruitment and with better strategies to attract students, because they have direct networks with schools and curricula closer to companies.

The CYD Foundation report also analyzes other problems in the Spanish university system:

"OVERTITLING"

The

37%

of the top graduates employed is employed in low -

skilled occupations, the highest percentage of all EU countries.

In addition,

38.6%

of the Spanish population aged 25 to 64 have a higher level degree, more than five points above the European average.

What happens is that this "over-titling" does not lead to more work: in 2019, Spain was the third country in the EU with the lowest employment rate, the second with the highest unemployment rate and among those that gave the lowest salaries to the university students.

"The percentage of the population with university studies is high, but the percentage of those who have a Baccalaureate or Intermediate FP is low. We have a problem here, because we do not get intermediate studies and everyone goes to university. There are many graduates but, according to the In the PIAAC report, the level of competences of Spanish university students is lower than that of most countries, "warns Parellada.

The study calls for "a dynamic review of the educational contents and programs" of the university and to expand its presence in continuous training and in learning throughout professional life.

LACK OF INTERNATIONALIZATION

Only

1.2%

of those enrolled in undergraduate degrees are foreigners, while the OECD average stands at

4.4%

.

In the master's degree, the percentage rises to

10.3%

, closer than the average (

12.7%

).

In Erasmus we stand out, but there is a lack of more degrees in other languages, more foreign teachers and more publications in collaboration with institutions from other countries.

"Internationalization is below the rest of the world," says the study.

Does it help that the

Celaá Law is

going to put a university entrance test for students from the educational systems of other countries?

"I don't think it is the best way to encourage her at the moment. We have to find a way to find more international students," Parellada responds.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • Spain

  • Manuel Castells

  • We can

  • Social Security

  • Education

  • society

EducationThe Catalan Baccalaureate leaves out 40% of the subject of History of Spain

EducationManuel Castells accuses the Wert Law of "poisoning coexistence" in Catalonia with the vehicularity of Spanish

Education Manuel Castells toughens the creation of universities to put a brake on private 'beach bars'

See links of interest

  • News

  • Translator

  • Programming

  • Films

  • 2021 calendar

  • 2020 calendar

  • Topics

  • Christmas restrictions

  • Poblense - Olot

  • Coruxo - Malaga

  • Loyalty - Alcorcón

  • Burgos CF - FC Andorra

  • Barcelona - Real Sociedad, live