Funding

Non-university higher education

Higher education institutions offer the following studies: 

• Advanced vocational training cycles;
• advanced artistic education (music, dance, dramatic arts, preservation and restoration of cultural property, plastic arts and design);
• advanced vocational education in sports.

The funding of these education systems shares the same characteristics as the funding of early childhood, primary and secondary education with respect to the following aspects:

• the funding system;
• the degree of financial autonomy and control mechanisms;
• the fees in public and private schools;
• the financial support to families and students.

The financing of advanced vocational training cycles in publicly-funded private schools presents some peculiarities:

• The minimum amount of public funding per school unit (group of students taught jointly and simultaneously by a teacher on a regular basis) is set annually by the State in its general budgets. The amounts will vary depending on the group to which each training cycle belongs, according to the number of hours it lasts and the level of expenditure it entails. For the year 2023, the amounts for the first year of higher cycles range between 71 002.12 and 77 462.91 euros (Annex IV of Law 31/2022 of the General State Budget for the year 2023). These budgets have been extended to 2024 until the new budgets are approved.
• The total amount of public funds allocated to publicly-funded private schools it is established in the budgets of the relevant education authorities.
• The fees to be paid by pupils in publicly-funded private schools as complementary funding or funding from public funds allocated to the system of individual agreements depend on each autonomous community. As a general rule, fees cannot exceed the limits annually established in the State Budget, except in special cases recognised by legislation. In 2023 (article 13.6), the amount ranges from EUR 18 to 36 per student per month, ten months per year, and is maintained in 2024.

University higher education

Its funding is set in the General State Budget, in a programme focused on university education (programa 322C, Anexo I). This programme aims for the promotion and encouragement of the development, by Spanish universities, of the public service of higher education through teaching, research and the transfer of knowledge at state level, and in cooperation with the autonomous communities, at regional level.  This programme facilitates the execution of the roles of universities as established in article 2 of Organic Law 2/2023 on the University System (LOSU):

• education and training of students through the creation, development, transmission and critical evaluation of scientific, technological, social, humanistic, artistic and cultural knowledge, as well as the capacities, competences and skills inherent to;
• preparation for the exercise of professional activities that require the application and updating of scientific, technological, social, humanistic and cultural knowledge and methods, as well as for artistic creation;
• generation, development, dissemination, transfer and exchange of knowledge and the applicability of research in all scientific, technological, social, humanistic, artistic and cultural;
• promotion of innovation based on knowledge in the social, economic, environmental, technological and institutional;
• contribution to social welfare, economic progress and the cohesion of society and the territorial environment in which they are located, as well as the promotion of their official languages, through training, research, transfer and exchange of knowledge and the culture of entrepreneurship, both individual and collective, based on conventional corporate models or social economy;
• generation of spaces for the creation and dissemination of critical thinking;
• transfer and exchange of knowledge and culture within society as a whole through university activity and lifelong learning of citizens;
• training of citizens through the transmission of the democratic values and principles;
• encouraging the participation of the university community and citizens in activities promoted by voluntary and third sector organisations that are aligned with the principles and values of the university system;
• other functions legally assigned to them. 

The fulfilment of these duties must be based on human and fundamental rights, democratic memory, the promotion of equity and equality, the promotion of sustainability, the fight against climate change and the values that emerge from the Sustainable Development Goals.

The  Strategic Plan for Grants, 2021-2023 developed by the Ministry of  Science, Innovation and Universities (MCNU) has 5 strategic objectives that show the most relevant aspects of the funding activity and are focused on resolving the main problems. At the same time, these strategic objectives are divided into several specific objectives which are expected to be accomplished by the subsidy activity of the Ministry within the period in which the Plan is in force.

The specific list of strategic and specific objectives is as follows:

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES		SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
1	Guarantee the fundamental right to education, as well as equity and equal opportunities in access to and permanence in the Spanish education system.	1.1	Facilitate access and permanence at University
		1.2	Improvement of citizens' competences for their personal and professional life.
		1.3	Promotion of the participation of the most representative social agents and student associations to guarantee the effectiveness of the right to education
2	Re-qualification of teaching and research staff	2.1	Periods abroad and mobility
		2.2	Improvement of the abilities to access and exercise of teaching and research duties in the university
3	Promote scientific and technical research and innovation in all sectors	3.1	Promotion of scientific and university vocations, promoting the research-oriented spirit in young people.
		3.2	Attraction of research talent from abroad
4	Promote the internationalization of the Spanish university system	4.1	Promotion of the internationalization of educational institutions and centres
		4.2	Promotion of international student mobility.
		4.3	Promotion of international cooperation
5	Digitise the Spanish university system	5.1	Improvement of digital infrastructures, equipment, technologies, teaching and evaluation

Bodies responsible for public funding

Sources of income of public universities

• fees paid by students;
• public funds provided by the Autonomous Communities and the State:
  1. The State establishes the funds for universities which are directly dependent on it, the National University of Distance Education (UNED) and the Menéndez Pelayo International Universitiy (UIMP).. The amounts allocated to each institution are annually established in the State Budget.
  2. The autonomous communities establish in their annual budgets the funds for universities located in their territories. These funds come from the following sources:
     • the taxes they collect and other revenues;
     • State transfers: the amounts established for each Autonomous Community are determined by different parameters, especially population ones.

Funding model for public universities

While respecting a common general basis throughout the state, the funding model for public universities is established and developed by each autonomous community within its scope of management.

Public administrations have the legal obligation to provide the universities with the necessary economic resources to guarantee financial sufficiency to enable them to comply with the provisions of the legislation and ensure the achievement of the objectives set out therein.

Within the framework of the plan to increase public spending by 2030 provided for in article 155.2 of Organic Law 2/2006 on Education (LOE), the state, the autonomous communities and universities share the objective of allocating at least 1% of the Gross Domestic Product to public spending on public university education in the state as a whole, thus enabling progressive equalisation with the average investment of the member states of the European Union and compliance with the objectives established in the national legislation in force. In order to achieve this multi-annual objective, the corresponding contributions must be established in the budgets of the autonomous communities, in those of the universities and in the General State Budgets, in accordance with the availability of funds for each financial year.

Within the regulatory framework that they establish, the autonomous communities in whose territory the universities are located shall draw up multiannual programmes that may lead, in coordination with the universities, to the approval of programming and funding instruments that include the objectives to be achieved, the financial resources for this purpose and the mechanisms for evaluating the degree of achievement of these objectives.

The multiannual programmes must include at least the following funding lines, which must be based on specific, agreed, measurable and verifiable evaluation indicators:

• Baseline structural funding. This funding must be sufficient to provide a quality public service and to cover the multi-year needs of staff costs, including the costs of the multiannual staff stabilisation plans, current expenditure on goods and services and real investments, structural research and investments to guarantee the environmental sustainability of the universities.
• Structural funding for special needs. This additional funding is established for certain universities on the basis of unique needs such as insularity, territorial dispersion and presence in rural areas of their university centres, the level of specialisation of the degrees taught, the linguistic plurality of the programmes, including the promotion of the official languages of the autonomous communities, the existence of unique infrastructures, cultural or artistic heritage or the size of the institutions. In addition, by mutual agreement between the universities and the autonomous communities, other unique functions may be established that require specific funding.
• Funding based on objectives. This additional funding is established on the basis of the fulfilment of strategic objectives that have been set in the multiannual programmes. These objectives are linked, among others, to the improvement of teaching, research, including Open Science and Citizen Science programmes, the transfer and exchange of knowledge, innovation, lifelong learning, internationalisation, inter-university cooperation and participation in projects and networks, the employment rate, effective equality between women and men, recognition of diversity and universal accessibility.

The degree of fulfilment of these objectives is evaluated by the autonomous community and serves as a basis for the next multiannual programming. The evaluation is carried out using public, objective, transparent criteria that comply with the established regulatory framework.

Furthermore, such compliance may constitute a criterion for the annual planning of public employment in universities.

The funding model for university research, including pre-doctoral contracts, entails structural funding of universities by the competent public administrations and specific funding for time-limited projects through calls for proposals issued by the corresponding institutions.

Additionally, public administrations have the obligation to promote competitive funding programmes to strengthen research capacity and teaching innovation.

In turn, universities must dedicate adequate resources to management and support services for research, knowledge transfer and exchange, and innovation.

Other sources of income of public universities

Public universities present other sources of income. They are the following:

• fees of studies leading to the award of their own diplomas and certificates, especially postgraduate master, expert or specialist programmes, which are not official;
• fees of lifelong learning studies, such as language courses;
• transfers from public and private entities, as well as bequests, legacies and donations;
• patrimony and any other economic activity they may develop;
• credit operations;
• contracts for people, or public and private universities or entities, to carry out scientific, technical or artistic work, as well as to develop specialised courses or specific training activities.

Financial autonomy and control

State regulations grant public universities economic and financial autonomy and establish accountability over the functions assigned to these institutions.

Autonomy of public universities

Public universities are entitled to:

• draw up their own statutes;
• prepare, approve and manage their budgets;
• administer their goods.

In regards to budgets, regardless of the above, the autonomous communities establish the regulations and procedures for their development and implementation.  University budgets must be public, single, balanced and comprise all income and expenditure and are approved annually by the university’s Social Council, which is the body in charge of supervising all economic activities and promoting the participation of society in university funding.

In accordance with article 57 of the LOSU, universities must comply with the obligations established in budgetary matters regarding the approval of annual expenditure limits. The budgets and their settlements must expressly refer to compliance with financial equilibrium and sustainability.

Gender and environmental impact reports must be included in the budget preparation procedure.

The universities' budgets must contain at least the following aspects in their income statement:

• the transfers for current expenses and capital set annually by the autonomous communities within a medium-term budgetary framework;
• income from public fees for academic services and other legally established fees. In the case of studies leading to official university degrees, public prices and fees shall be set by the corresponding autonomous community or administration, within a general framework of containment or progressive reduction of public prices.
  Likewise, the compensation corresponding to the amounts resulting from the exemptions and reductions legally provided for in terms of public prices and other fees shall also be recorded;
• income from tuition fees, lifelong learning and other activities authorised to the universities, which shall be approved together with the annual budgets in which they are to be applied;
• income from transfers and subsidies from international or supranational organisations, from the various public administrations and from other public sector entities;
• income from transfers from private entities, as well as from inheritances, legacies or donations;
• income derived from patronage activities, as provided for in Law 49/2002 on the tax regime for non-profit organisations and tax incentives for patronage, including those derived from business collaboration agreements on activities of general interest that they have signed, for the purposes provided for in the aforementioned law;
• income from their assets and from other economic activities that they carry out in accordance with current legislation and their own statutes, including income from the contracts provided for in article 60 of Organic Law 2/2023 on the University System, as well as income from advertising sponsorship agreements.
• cash surpluses and any other income;
• the proceeds of the credit operations they arrange, which must be compensated to achieve the necessary budgetary balance of the corresponding autonomous community or administration, which, in any case, is responsible for authorising any debt operation.

The structure of the universities' budgets, their accounting system and the documents comprising their annual accounts shall, in all cases, be adapted to the standards generally established for the public sector. Within this framework, for the purposes of accounting standardisation, the autonomous communities may establish an accounting plan for the universities under their jurisdiction, as well as determine the time frame for the settlement of the budget and the annual accounts.

With regard to expenditure, the statement of current expenditure must be accompanied by the list of positions for all university staff, specifying all the costs thereof and the elements set out in article 74 of the revised text of the Law on the Statute of Public Employees, and including the proposed new positions. Universities may modify the list of staff vacancies by extending existing positions or by reducing or changing the name of vacant positions, in the manner indicated in their statutes, without prejudice to the provisions of article 71 of Organic Law 2/2023 on the University System.

The costs of teaching and research staff, as well as technical, management, administration and services staff, must be authorized by the autonomous community, within the framework of the basic regulations on Public Employment Offers, except in the case of contracts. provided for in Law 14/2011 on Science, Technology and Innovation, which do not require such authorization.

The appointment of interim civil servants and the hiring of temporary staff by universities shall comply with the specific regulations on the matter.

Universities must dedicate at least 5% of their budgets to their own research programmes.

The preparation, approval, execution and settlement of the budget shall be regulated by the state and autonomous community regulations applicable to this matter.

In the event of liquidation of the budget with a negative cash balance, the Social Council must proceed to reduce expenditure in the new budget by an amount equal to the deficit produced. The aforementioned reduction may only be revoked by agreement of this body, at the proposal of the Rector, following a report by the financial controller and authorisation by the corresponding body of the autonomous community, when budget availability and the cash situation allow it. In any case, the Governing Council must be informed of the reasons for this deficit and the possible alternatives for correcting it.

Transfers charged to the budgets of the autonomous community directly or indirectly in favour of the universities require the approval and implementation of the reduction in expenditure.

In turn, the universities must send the corresponding autonomous community or administration the economic-financial information that they must provide in application of the budgetary stability regulations or other state or autonomous community provisions. Failure to submit the budget statement, or failure to adopt measures in the event of a negative balance, entitles the autonomous community to adopt, within the scope of its powers, the necessary measures to guarantee the budgetary stability of the university. 

Control in public universities

The use of economic-financial resources of universities is subject to the principles of transparency and accountability.

Universities are obliged to account for their activity before the external control body of the respective autonomous community, without prejudice to the powers of the Court of Auditors.

In turn, universities are subject to the public audit regime determined by regional or, where appropriate, state regulations.

Likewise, universities must develop an internal control regime, which must have, in any case, an internal audit system. The body responsible for this control must have functional autonomy in its work and cannot depend on the single-person governing bodies of the university.

Additionally, every university must have an analytical accounting system or equivalent in place.

Analytical accounting model for public universities

The Analytical Accounting Model for Public Universities (MCAU) approved by the  Council of Universities and the General Conference on University Policy aims to provide a better understanding of the real costs of the different services provided by universities as well as their relationship with private and public funding. By doing so, accountability levels and efficiency in management are expected to increase. The Analytical accounting model for public universities (MCAU) aims to serve as a framework for all Spanish public universities. The model was updated in 2019 (MCAU19) to introduce improvements after analysing the results achieved since it was first implemented. 

Fees within public higher education

Bachelor and Master studies

Official university studies

The fees students pay depend on the following factors:

• the public prices fixed by the relevant Autonomous Community, within the limits established by the General Assembly for University Policy;
• the number of credits in which they are enrolled;
• whether the programme is highly experimental;
• the extra charges involved in registration for second or subsequent times in one or more subjects:

Minimum, maximum and average public prices of credits for new students of official bachelor and master programmes in Spain. 2022/23	Lowest fee per credit	Highest fee per credit	Average fee
Bachelor	12.0	19.1	15.6
Official Master programme which entitles the holder to perform a professional activity that is regulated in Spain	12.6	21.4	16.0
Official Master programme which does not entitle the holder to perform a professional activity that is regulated in Spain	11.5	52.5	30.8

Source: Drawn up by Eurydice España-rediE (INEE, MEFD) on the basis of Statistics on University Public Prices (Academic year 2022/23) published by the Ministry of Universities (MUNI). Average public prices of credit (first time registration) in university degrees. 

Non-official university studies

Registration fees are determined by the Social Council of each university.

PhD programmes

In the academic year 2022/23, public prices for the preparation of doctoral theses range from 60.3 € per year in Andalusia to 401.1 € per year in Catalonia, depending on the services offered to their doctoral students.

Fees only new students must pay

The total cost of registration for a student includes registration fees (depending on the number of credits), together with the following:

• school insurance (for students under 28);
• student record;
• ID fee.

Fees for other services

Fees are also required in a number of areas:

• the issuing of the relevant certificate or the European Diploma Supplement;
• the doctoral thesis examination, ranging from 117.1 euros in Galicia to 260.0 euros in Castilla-La Mancha.

Financial support for learners’ families

University students' families do not receive direct financial support; it is directly awarded to students, although their family situation  (income, number of family members in the household, etc) is taken into account.

Full or partial fee waivers

Full or partial fee waivers are established in accordance with national and regional regulations.

They are both aimed at students coming from certain family situations, including the following:

• members of a large family;
• dependent people or people with disabilities;
• victims and relatives of victims of terrorist attacks;
• victims of gender-based violence;
• orphans of civil servants and military personnel who have died in the line of duty;
• be awarded a “matrícula de honor” distinction.

Tax deductions

Different tax deductions regarding educations costs are applied to PIT by Autonomous Communities:  Financial support to families through tax deductions by education authority (Apoyo financiero a las familias mediante deducciones fiscales en las administraciones educativas).

Financial support for learners

There are coordination mechanisms in place between the MEFD and the autonomous communities to ensure that the general system of study grants and aids promotes the right to access higher levels of education on the basis of skills and vocation, without any discrimination on the grounds of economic capacity, social level or place of residence of the student body.

System of grants and financial support

The academic requirements applicants must meet are the following:

Advanced training cycles

• first year: 
  • obtain at least a result of 5 points in the 2nd year of Bachillerato, or the corresponding entrance test or course. If accessing from an intermediate level training cycle, the final grade of the cycle will be taken into account;
  • enrol for the entire year. You can also get a grant, although subject to a limit, by enrolling for at least half of the modules of the course. This requirement must be fulfilled both in the current year and in the previous or last year studied;
  • not be repeating the current year;
• second and subsequent years:
  • not be repeating the current year;
  • enrol for the entire year. Students can also obtain a grant, although subject to a limit, by enrolling for at least half of the modules of the course. This requirement must be fulfilled both in the current year and in the previous or last year.
  • completion of at least a number of modules in the previous year, representing 85% of the total hours of the course. If repeating a year, completion of all the modules of that year. 

Bachelor

• first year:
  • enrol for 60 credits. Students can also get a grant, with some limitations and special requirements, by enrolling for at least 30 credits;
  • obtain at least a result of 5 points in the university entrance exam, excluding the specific part (the following formula is applied: 0.6 NMB [average baccalaureate mark] + 0.4 EBAU [Evaluation of Bachillerato in order to have access to university education]), or in another exam or programme that allows access to university;
• second and subsequent years:  
  • enrol for 60 credits. Students can also get a grant, with some limitations and special requirements, by enrolling for at least 30 credits;
  • enrol for the same number of credits as in the previous academic year;
  • completion of 100% of the credits enrolled in the previous academic year in the case of studies in the fields of Arts and Humanities, Social and Legal Sciences, Sciences and Health Sciences, and 85% in the case of Engineering and Architecture (if this percentage is not exceeded, see the alternative in the first transitional provision of Royal Decree 1721/2007, which establishes the system of grants and personalised study aids).  

In order to obtain the enrolment grant as a single component, the following percentages of enrolled credits must have been passed in the last studies completed:

Knowledge Area	Percentage of credits to be completed
Arts and Humanities	90%
Social and Legal Sciences	90%
Health Sciences	80%
Science	65%
Technical Studies	65%

Master

• first year: 
  • enrol for 60 credits. Students can also get a grant by enrolling for at least 30 credits;
  • obtain at least a result of 5 points in the previous studies that give access to the master's degree (either qualifying or non-qualifying). The average grade of the degree course leading to the master's degree must be multiplied by 1.17 if it was an engineering or architecture degree;
• second year:
  • enrol for 60 credits. Students can also get a grant by enrolling for at least 30 credits;
  • completion of 100% of the credits enrolled in the previous year;
  • an average grade of 5 points in the first year of the master's degree, either qualifying or non-qualifying.

Amounts and types of aid

The MEFD  establishes income and family wealth thresholds above which the right to receive grants or financial support disappears. The current thresholds for the 2023/24 academic year are grouped into three categories:

	THRESHOLD 1	THRESHOLD 2	THRESHOLD 3
Single member families	Between 8 422 € and 8 871 €	13 236 €	Between 14 422 € and 14 871 €
Families with 2 members	Between 12 632 € and 13 306 €	22 594 €	Between 24 089 € and 25 308 €
Families with 3 members	Between 16 843 € and 17 742 €	30 668 €	Between 32 697 € and 34 352 €
Families with 4 members	Between 21 054 € and 22 177 €	36 421 €	Between 38 831 € and 40 796 €
Families with 5 members	Between 24 423 € and 25 726 €	40 708 €	Between 43 402 € and 45 598 €
Families with 6 members	Between 27 791 € and 29 274 €	43 945 €	Between 46 853 € and 49 224 €
Families with 7 members	Between 31 160 € and 32 822 €	47 146 €	Between 50 267 € and 52 810 €
Families with 8 members	Between 34 529 € and 36 371 €	50 333 €	Between 53 665 € and 56 380 €

From the eighth member onwards, between EUR 3 368 and 3 548 for threshold 1, EUR 3 181 for threshold 2, and between EUR 3 391 and 3 562 for threshold 3 will be added for each new eligible family member.

All students with a family income within threshold 3 are entitled to a grant, at least to the exemption of tuition fees or the basic grant.

There are a number of deductions to be applied for calculating a family’s income:

• income from other family members;
• large family status;
• disability affecting the applicant or one of his/her relatives (sibling or child);
• residence away from the family home for the purpose of university studies: the applicant or one of his/her siblings;
• orphan status being under 25 years of age;
• single-parent families

The amounts that can be received are the following:

• fixed amounts: 
  • tuition grant;
  • fixed amount linked to the student's income;
  • fixed amount linked to the student's residence during the school year;
  • fixed amount linked to excellence in academic performance;
  • basic grant.
• variable amount: it is established for each call and beneficiary through a formula that takes into account family income and academic performance:
• other financial support: 
  • for residents of the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands, Ceuta and Melilla;
  • subsidies and aids for students with specific academic support needs resulting from disabilities, severe behavioural disorders or autism spectrum disorders or associated with high intellectual capacities;
  • support for students with high capacities: a single aid only for non-university levels;
  • victims of gender-based violence and/or their children under twenty-three years of age: same support but some of the requirements to be eligible don’t apply.

In the 2021/22 academic year, a total of 589 917 bachelor's and master's degree students at public universities receiveD some type of grant or aid, specifically 557 513 undergraduate students and 32 404 official master students (Source: Number of grant recipients, number of scholarships and their amount by level of financing educational administration, university, scholarship recipients, scholarships and amount and education level. General Subdirectorate of Statistics and Studies of the MEFD).

Number of grant holders and percentage they represent in Bachelor and Master programmes. Public face-to-face universities. 2021/22 academic year

	Percentage
Bachelor	30.4%
Master's	17.5%

Source: Drawn up by Eurydice España-rediE (INEE, MEFD) based on the indicators of beneficiaries of general grants from the National Government and the Basque Country for bachelor's and master's degree studies. Ratio between beneficiaries and total enrolment by type and modality of university, field of study and gender (classroom-based universities) in bachelor's and master's degree studies.  Integrated University Information System (SIIU). General Secretariat for Universities.

Salary grants

Some autonomous communities, such as the Valencian Community, offer a salary grant for university studies, linked to applicants' income, to those students who meet the economic and academic requirements specified in each call for applications. The beneficiaries of these grants receive a monthly allowance over the duration of their studies as long as they continue to meet the requirements for each academic year. 

Grants and financial support for PhD students under the State Programme to Develop, Attract and Retain Talent

The State Programme to Develop, Attract and Retain Talent is part of the State Plan for Scientific and Technical Research and Innovation (PEICTI) 2021-2023, an instrument of the General State Administration for the development and achievement of the objectives of the Spanish Strategy for Science and Technology and Innovation (EECTI).

The objective of this programme is to promote and highlight the importance of the talent of research, technology and innovation staff through grants intended to the training of new generations of professionals, which will let them acquire the necessary competences for investigation and innovation in academic and professional contexts.

There are 3 lines of action:

• pre-doctoral and post-doctoral training in research teams , university departments and other R&D&I first level organizations;
• new incorporations of research, technology and technic staff into R&D&I centres and  companies;
• mobility of research staff;

For each of these lines, there is a subprogramme with its own actions:

1. State Training Subprogramme:

The actions of this Subprogramme include grants for the pre-doctoral contracts for the training of doctors (PhD):

• Objective: the training of doctors through the funding of employment contracts.
• The contracts are carried out under the form of pre-doctoral contracts.They generally have a duration of 4 years.
• The grants also aim to fund employment during a post-doctoral orientation period of a minimum of 6 months period and a maximum of 12 months.

These grants also aim to promote different types of training:

• pre-doctoral contracts for the training of research personnel - doctorates in the industrial sector;
• pre-doctoral contracts for the training of university teaching staff;
• contract for pre-doctoral training at the European University Institute, "Salvador de Madariaga” programme;
• pre-doctoral contracts in centres of the national healthcare system and in collaboration with companies in the health sector.

2. State Subprogramme for Incorporation:

The grants within this subprogramme are created to favour the incorporation of young researchers and R&D&I personnel in research organisations, including universities, research facilities, companies and other state level research and experimentation centres. 
With this purpose, several types of grants have been created aimed at companies, universities, and other entities to subsidise the hiring of recent PhD graduates:

• “Ramón y Cajal” contracts;
• “Torres Quevedo” contracts;
• “Beatriz Galindo” contracts;
• “Miguel Servet” contracts;
• “Juan Rodés” contracts;
• Technical Support Staff contracts;
• contracts for the strengthening of the research activity in the national healthcare system;
• incorporation of new talents into technological companies and small and medium-sized companies.
   

3. State Subprogramme for Mobility:

This subprogramme aims to promote the geographical and inter-institutional mobility of researchers; it also contemplates international mobility and the attraction of talent as an essential aspect of the research career itself.
Several types of grants are available, including subsidies to stay in foreign centres.

Private education

Private universities draw up and pass their own organisational and operational rules:

• internal regulations concerning administrative and financial principles;
• preparation, approval and management of their budgets;
• administration of their goods.

The funding of private universities comes mainly from students’ contributions.

The cost of fees for the provision of training services is established by each university and represents about 80 % of the funding. In some private universities, students make considerably lower contributions, since these institutions receive subsidies from public regional and local bodies which make up for users’ contributions.

Official grants and financial support for students enrolled in private universities is the same as the one offered to public university students.

In the case of registration fee waivers, the amount awarded must not exceed the official price established for the same degree and study programme in public institutions within the same autonomous community.

In the 2021/22 academic year, a total of 36 721 bachelor's and master's degree students at private universities received some kind of grant or aid funded by education administrations, namely 29 369 bachelor's degree students and 7 352 official master's degree students (Source: Number of grant holders, number of grants and amount of grants according to level of financing educational administration, university, grant holders, grants and amount and studies. MEFD Subdirectorate General for Statistics and Studies) 

Percentage of grant holders and percentage they represent in bachelor and master programmes. Private face-to-face universities. 2021/22 academic year

	Percentage
Bachelor	9.0%
Master	6.4%

Source: Drawn up by Eurydice España-rediE (INEE, MEFD) based on the indicators of beneficiaries of general grants from the National Government and the Basque Country for bachelor's and master's degree studies. Ratio between beneficiaries and total enrolment by type and modality of university, field of study and gender (classroom-based universities) in bachelor's and master's degree studies.  Integrated University Information System (SIIU). General Secretariat for Universities.

By choice, private universities may adopt the following measures:

• offering grants and financial support which are financed from their own resources;
• graning some benefits to their students provided they fulfil a series of academic requirements;
• offering a reduction in academic fees in the case students who are victims of terrorism or members of large families.