Barcelona a magnet for international students

The number of foreign students has more than doubled in the last three years In Barcelona, going from 8,000 to 17,000. Most of them come from France, Germany, Belgium, Holland, the UK and other EU countries that participate in the Erasmus program. There's also been a rise, however, in students who come from more exotic locations like Asia, Africa and the Americas.

The fact that the Catalan dialect is used in almost two out of three universities in Catalonia hasn't stopped foreign students from flocking to the area in ever-larger numbers. Catalonia is the third region of Spain with the most Erasmus students (3,631), behind Madrid and Andalusia, with 4,000 each. The Plan de Español Para Extranjeros (Spanish for Foreigners Plan) aims to duplicate the 30,000 foreign students that study in the region with various initiatives and campaigns.

All this thanks to several agreements signed recently between the Instituto Cervantes (Spain's government-sponsored Spanish language institution) and the Spanish councils of Culture and Education. 35 million euros will be invested in the Plan to create an "integrated service strategy" aimed at the foreign market. César Antonio Molina, director of the Instituto Cervantes, is sure the potential for attracting students who want to study Spanish in Spain is "immense."

The Spanish for Foreigner's Plan marks the first time Spain has launched a unified campaign aimed at foreign students. Only now, for example, are the long-established favorable relations with Latin American countries beginning to figure in the marketing strategies of Spanish universities. Spain's institutions of higher learning are still far from the marketing prowess of their North American counterparts (which boast more than half a million foreign students a year), and the Spanish government still doesn't match the active role of Great Britain's in promoting internationalism in its schools (more than 10% of its students are foreign).

For their part, Spanish students traditionally haven't studied internationally. Only 1.3% choose to study outside of the country, most choosing Great Britain (30%) over France (23%), the US (17%) and Germany (17%). In recent years, however, they've participated in the Erasmus program almost enthusiastically, greatly stimulating the interchange of students and teachers.

The number of foreign postgraduate students has already reached 23% in public universities throughout Catalonia. The Polytechnic University of Catalonia, with 511 foreign doctorate students (38% of the student body), is the most international Spanish university. The University of Barcelona (http://www.barcelona-university.es) is the fifth in the ranking and is expected to expand its international student body greatly in coming years.

There have been other projects to foment internationalism in Spanish universities, such as the recent creation of the International Graduate School of Catalonia with the mission of promoting and subsidizing graduate programs that use English as the docent language and are made up of foreign students by at least by 25%.

Another example is the association For Quality, formed in 2002 to promote Barcelona as an important international academic center by bringing together all the universities in the city that offer postgraduate studies. The association managed to unite for the first time the four internationally acclaimed business schools in Barcelona along with other prestigious learning institutions in the city.

The presence of Chicago University in Barcelona, the opening of a residence for visiting professors and the creation of the organization Barcelona: Centro Universitario to cater to the specific needs of international students are further indicators of Barcelona's new drive to match London and Paris as a magnet of international students.

This item submitted by: Patrick Collins