Financing for equity in higher education
1. Education resources to subnational governments
2. Education resources to institutions
3. Education resources to students
4. Support for students' living costs
Introduction
Key financing indicators (UIS Data)
In 2023, for tertiary education, the gross enrolment ratio for tertiary education for both sexes was 93.73%. The initial government funding per tertiary student as a percentage of GDP per capita was 22.24% in 2022, and the initial household funding per tertiary student as a percentage of GDP per capita was 6.42% for that same year.
Tuition-free status
University education is regulated by Organic Law 2/2023 on the University System (LOSU). The law allows progress towards the goal of free public higher education; however, public tertiary education in Spain is not entirely free of charge.
Governance
The Autonomous Communities establish and develop the rules and procedures for preparing, executing, and controlling the budgets of the universities under their jurisdiction, with the collaboration and supervision of the Social Councils of each public University.
1. Education resources to subnational governments
The State allocates funds for universities directly dependent on it, namely the National Distance Education University (UNED) and the Menéndez Pelayo International University (UIMP). Annual amounts for each institution are set in their general budgets. Similarly, autonomous communities determine the funds for universities within their jurisdiction in their annual budgets. These funds originate from transfers from the State, tax collections and other revenues, with allocations to each community based on various parameters, primarily population.
2. Education resources to institutions
Funding for private universities in the absence of public institutions
Private universities are primarily funded through payment for services rendered.
Allocation and equity
Chapter III of the LOSU outlines the economic and financial framework for public universities.
While maintaining a common foundation statewide, each autonomous community establishes and develops its own financing model for public universities.
Public administrations are legally obligated to provide necessary resources to ensure financial sufficiency for universities, enabling compliance with legislative provisions and achievement of set objectives. Under the plan to increase public spending by 2030 outlined in Article 155.2 of Organic Law 2/2006 on Education (LOE), the State, autonomous communities, and universities aim to allocate at least 1 percent of Gross Domestic Product to public university education.
The Autonomous Communities must implement budgets that include funding axes including core institutional funding, student-based financial support, and performance-oriented allocations. The basic structural funding must ensure high-quality public services and cover multiannual personnel costs, stabilisation plans, current expenditures, structural research, and investments in environmental sustainability for universities. The structural funding for specific needs is an additional allocation to certain universities based on factors such as insularity, territorial dispersion, rural location, degree specialisation, linguistic diversity of programs (including the promotion of the official languages of the Autonomous Communities), unique infrastructure, cultural or artistic heritage, and institution size. Finally, targeted funding is allocated based on the achievement of strategic objectives outlined in the multi-year program referenced in the section. Among these objectives, effective gender equality, recognition of diversity, and universal accessibility are prioritised.
3. Education resources to students
Admission for vulnerable groups
To ensure access and continuity in university studies, public universities may establish, at their own expense, partial or total exemptions from public fees for academic services based on socioeconomic criteria. Students with disabilities and victims of gender-based violence, as well as other forms of violence against women, are entitled to a full rebate for academic services included in tuition fees, as outlined in specific regulations and upon formal accreditation.
Scholarships, grants and loans for vulnerable groups
The Ministry of Education, Vocational Training, and Sports (MEFP) and autonomous communities have coordination mechanisms to ensure that the scholarship and study grant system promotes access to higher education based on aptitude and vocation, without discrimination due to economic capacity, social status, or residence. Students with a family income within threshold 3 (out of 8) are entitled to a scholarship, at least for tuition fee exemption or a basic scholarship.
Several deductions apply to calculating family income, including income from other family members, large family status, disability of the applicant or their relatives (sibling or child), residence away from home for university studies (for the applicant or siblings), orphan status under 25 years of age, and single-parent families.
Official scholarships and grants for students at private universities have the same characteristics as those intended for students at public universities.
4. Support for students’ living costs
Transportation
The autonomous communities offer direct subsidies for university transportation through annual calls for applications.
Accommodation
The MEFP provides MEC scholarships, which include a residence allowance for students living away from home during the academic year. Autonomous communities may also offer supplementary grants.
Textbooks
Public universities in Spain, like Universidad Carlos III or Universidad Pablo de Olavide typically complement national and regional government scholarships with their own financial aid offerings, which often target students from lower-income families or disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds (income or need criteria). These programmes vary significantly between institutions.
This profile was reviewed by Martha Villabona Villabona García, Deputy vice-director for Territorial cooperation and innovation in education, and by Marisa Hidalgo, Dr. and associate Professor at Universidad Pablo de Olavide (Seville).
