Partner Institutions

Students take most of their academic courses at local universities, which offer a wide range of subjects taught in Spanish and/or Catalan. CASA-Barcelona students can take courses and participate in most of the extracurricular activities of the four universities that make up the Barcelona Group (BG): UAB, UB, UPC and UPF. Although all universities must meet the requirements of the Ministry of Education and Professional Development, each of them has its own personality and offers different learning experiences.

Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB)

Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona, Hospital Sant Pau. Credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/57944142@N06/5328698561

Year of foundation: 1968
Location: its main campus, located in Bellaterra, is located about 25km north of Barcelona
How to get there: by train from the center of Barcelona (about 35 minutes)
Number of students: approximately 40,000 students
Number of schools: it is one of the largest universities in the country, and is composed of more than 30 schools and colleges that offer about 80 undergraduate degree courses.
Specialties: the UAB is a particularly good option for students interested in disciplines such as journalism, sociology, international relations, urban geography, ecology, environmental studies or education sciences
Points to note: CASA-Barcelona subsidizes the cost of train tickets for those students who take courses at the UAB campus. Among the most outstanding services of this university is its volunteering program, in which all CASA-Barcelona students can participate
Who can study at the UAB? Both academic year and spring semester students have the option to select courses from the wide range of UAB courses. The students of the first semester (fall) may also be able to take classes from the UAB, after consulting with the professors who teach such courses. Courses taught the first semester of the UAB extend until the end of January — but fall semester CASA-Barcelona students typically end their stay at the end of December, and return to their home university in January.

Universitat de Barcelona (UB)

Universidad de Barcelona. Credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/el_salmon/8222677620/

Year of foundation: 1450. It is one of the oldest universities in Spain, and founded before the discovery of America
Location: urban campus with schools in different areas of the city
How to get there: well-connected with the public transport network of the city (metro L1 and L3 and bus, among others)
Number of students: approximately 80,000 students
Number of schools: it is composed of more than 40 schools and colleges that offer 64 undergraduate degree courses
Specialties: the UB is specialized in history, psychology, anthropology, art history, mathematics and economics (in particular, political and development economics), among others.
Points to note: the UB has sports facilities on two of its campuses (Diagonal and Mundet), as well as a specialized library and computer rooms in each of its schools.
Who can study at the UB? Both academic year and spring semester students have the option to select courses from the wide range of UB courses. The students of the first semester (fall) may also be able to take classes at the UB, after consulting with the professors who teach such courses. Courses taught the first semester of the UB extend until the end of January — but fall semester CASA-Barcelona students typically end their stay at the end of December, and return to their home university in January.

Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)

Year of foundation: 1971
Location: has campuses inside and outside the city. Normally, CASA-Barcelona students take courses at the Campus Nord in the University Zone of the city
How to get there: well-connected with the public transport network of the city (metro L3 and bus, among others)
Number of students: approximately 30,000 students
Number of schools: it is composed of five campuses with 23 schools that offer approximately 68 undergraduate degree courses
Specialties: UPC is a public university specializing in STEM disciplines such as architecture, engineering (civil, industrial, electronics, aeronautics, naval and telecommunications) and computer science
Who can study at the UPC? Both academic year and spring semester students have the option to select courses from the wide range of UPC courses. The students of the first semester (fall) may also be able to take classes from the UPC, after consulting with the professors who teach such courses. Courses taught the first semester of the UPC extend until the end of January — but fall semester CASA-Barcelona students typically end their stay at the end of December, and return to their home university in January.

Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF) - Fall only

Year of foundation: 1990
Location: urban campus with schools very close to the city center
How to get there: well-connected with the public transport network of the city (metro L1 and L4, bus and tram, among others)
Number of students: approximately 10,000 students
Number of schools: composed of 7 schools that offer 22 undergraduate degree courses
Specialties: UPF is a good option for students interested in comparative literature, political science, international and European law, bio sciences and communications
Points to note: UPF offers services for international students, among which is the Voluntariat Lingüístic, which organizes conversation exchanges between foreign and local students.
Who can study at UPF? Unlike the other universities in the Barcelona Group, UPF courses are organized into trimesters. The first trimester ends at the end of December, and provides more course options for both fall and academic year students. Due to calendar restraints, the UPF is not an option for spring-only students.