Higher education in Portugal is divided into two main subsystems: university and polytechnic education. It is provided in autonomous public and private universities, university institutes, polytechnic institutes and higher education institutions of other types.
The higher education institutions of Portugal grant licentiate, master's and doctoral academic degrees, with the last one being reserved to be granted only by the university institutions.
Higher education in state-run educational establishments is provided on a competitive basis, and a system of numerus clausus is enforced through a national database on student admissions. In addition, every higher education institution offers also ber of additional vacant places through other extraordinary admission processes for sportsmen, mature applicants (over 23 years old), international students, foreign students from the Lusosphere, degree owners from other institutions, students from other institutions (academic transfer), former students (readmission), and course change, which are subject to specific standards and regulations set by each institution or course department.
Portuguese universities have existed since 1290. The oldest such institution, the University of Coimbra, was first established in Lisbon before moving to Coimbra. Historically, within the scope of the now defunct Portuguese Empire, the Portuguese founded in 1792 the oldest engineering school of the Americas (the Real Academia de Artilharia, Fortificação e Desenho), as well as the oldest medical college of Asia (the Escola Médico-Cirúrgica de Goa) in 1842.
Overview In Portugal, the university system has a strong theoretical basis and is highly research-oriented while the polytechnical system provides a more practical training and is profession-oriented. Degrees in fields such as medicine, law, pharmaceutical sciences, natural sciences, economics, psychology or veterinary medicine are taught only in university institutions. Other fields like engineering, technology, management, education, agriculture, sports, or humanities are taught both in university and polytechnic institutions. Specifically vocationally oriented degrees such as, nursing, health care technician, accounting technician, preschool and primary school teaching, are only offered by the polytechnic institutions.
The oldest university is the University of Coimbra founded in 1290. The largest university, by number of enrolled students, is the University of Porto – with approximately 28,000 students. The Catholic University of Portugal, the oldest non-state-run university (concordatary status), was instituted by decree of the Holy See and has been recognized by the State of Portugal since 1971. A few polytechnical higher education institutions, though formed as such in the 1980s, have their origin in 19th century educational institutions – this is the case of the Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa, the Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto and the Escola Superior Agrária de Coimbra.
Public or private higher education institutions or courses cannot operate, or are not accredited, if they are not recognized by the Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior (Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education). The two systems of higher education – university and polytechnic – are linked, and it is possible to transfer from one to the other through extraordinary effort. It is also possible to transfer from a private institution to a public one (or vice versa) on the same basis.
Many universities are usually organized by college (faculdade). Institute (instituto) and school (escola) are also common designations for autonomous units of Portuguese higher learning institutions, and are always used in the polytechnic system, though several universities also use these systems.
Access to public higher education institutions is subject to enrollment restrictions (numerus clausus), and students must compete for admission. Students who hold a diploma of secondary education (12th grade) or the equivalent, who meet all legal requirements, particularly exams in specific subjects in which minimum marks must be obtained, may apply. Any citizen over 23 years old who does not have the secondary education diploma (12th grade) can attempt to gain admission to a limited number of vacant places available, through special examination which includes an interview (Decree law: Decreto-Lei 64/2006, de 21 de Março). Public university's tuition fees are greater than polytechnics', , Público (24 September 2006) and polytechnic weekend and evening classes are usually organized. For a large number of academic fields, undergraduate and graduate admission criteria and student evaluation in most public university institutions are usually more selective and demanding than in many private institutions or polytechnic institutions. Andrea Trindade, "Ausência de regras favorece a concorrência desqualificada", "O facto de cada instituição poder definir regras próprias de ingresso para os seus cursos é, no entender de Seabra Santos, mais um factor de «concorrência desqualificada e de nivelamento por baixo»: Uma escola de Engenharia, por exemplo, pode decidir que os seus estudantes não precisam de Matemática para entrar.", Diário de Coimbra (2 February 2009) Cláudia Valadas Urbano, A candidatura ao ensino superior politécnico: Escolha ou recurso? Access to private higher education institutions is regulated by each institution.
After 2006, with the approval of new legislationDecree-Law 74/2006, of 24 March on the frame of the Bologna Process, any polytechnic or university institution of Portugal is able to award a first cycle of study, known as licenciatura (licentiate) plus a second cycle which confers a mestrado (master's degree). Before then, only university institutions awarded master's degrees. All institutions award master's degrees after a second cycle of study, and some universities award integrated master's degrees (joint degrees) through a longer single cycle of study, with fields such as medicine having an initial 6-year study cycle needed for a master's degree. Doutoramentos (PhD degrees) are only awarded by university institutions.MINISTÉRIO DA CIÊNCIA, TECNOLOGIA E ENSINO SUPERIOR, Decreto-Lei nº 74/2006 de 24 de Março, Artigo 29º – Atribuição do grau de doutor , accessed December 2006 Only university institutions carry out fundamental research in addition to research and development.Quality Assurance of Higher Education in Portugal – An Assessment of the Existing System and Recommendations for a Future System , Report by a review panel from ENQA – European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education, November 2006 However, since after the Bologna Process (2006/2007) an increasingly large number of polytechnic institutions have established to some extent their own research and development units.
There are also special higher education institutions linked with the military and the police. These institutions generally have good reputations and are popular among students because their courses are a passport to the military/police career. These state-run institutions are the Air Force Academy, the Military Academy, the Naval School and the Instituto Superior de Ciências Policiais e Segurança Interna.
According to the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), the average Portuguese 15-year-old student was for many years underrated and underachieving in terms of reading literacy, mathematics and science knowledge in the OECD, nearly tied with the Italian and just above those from countries like Greece, Turkey and Mexico. However, since 2010, PISA results for Portuguese students improved dramatically. Alunos portugueses pela primeira vez "perto da média" – relatório PISA, Destak If this was true, it could be translated into a higher average level of readiness and academic skill among freshmen attending Portuguese universities and other higher education institutions. However, the Portuguese Ministry of Education announced a 2010 report published by its office for educational evaluation GAVE (Gabinete de Avaliação do Ministério da Educação) which criticized the results of PISA 2009 report and claimed that the average Portuguese teenage student had profound handicaps in terms of expression, communication and logic, as well as a low performance when asked to solve problems. They also claimed that those fallacies are not exclusive of Portugal but indeed occur in other countries due to the way PISA was designed. Estudo do ministério aponta graves problemas aos alunos portugueses , GAVE (Gabinete de Avaliação do Ministério da Educação) 2010 report in RTP
Situation
In Portugal, university and college attendance before the 1960s, including for the period of Portuguese monarchy which ended in 1910, and for most of the Estado Novo regime (1920s – 1974), was very limited to the tiny elites, like members of the bourgeoisie and high ranked political and military authorities. In addition, there were few institutions of higher education, low levels of secondary education attainment, and a high illiteracy rate for Western European standards. However, during the last decade of the Estado Novo regime, from the 1960s to the 1974 Carnation Revolution, secondary and university education experienced the fastest growth of Portuguese education's history. Today higher education, which includes polytechnic institutions and university institutions, is generalized but very heterogeneous, with different tonalities and subsystems. Overcrowded classrooms, obsolete curricula, unequal competition among institutions, frequent rule changing in the sector and increasingly higher tuition fees (inside the public higher education system, although much smaller than private institution feesThe tuition fee for undergraduate degrees was less than €10/year in 1995, and had increased to €356/year in 2002/2003 in many institutions. It was increased again by many universities to €880/year and to €901,23/year in 2005/2006, the maximum fee allowed to state universities by law. First cycle annual fees of public higher education institutions can not exceed 920 euros (as of 2006)) that can be a financial burden for many students, Bárbara Wong, Nas universidades e politécnicos, públicos e privados Há mais alunos sem conseguirem pagar propinas , Público (16 February 2009) have been a reality until the present day, though some improvements have been made since the Bologna Process implementation in 2007/2008. The Bologna Process created a more uniform and homogeneous higher educational system, at least within the public university and polytechnic institutions. Nearly 40% of the higher education students do not finish their degrees, although an undisclosed number of those students are subsequently readmitted into other courses or institutions of their choice."...perto de 40% dos alunos do ensino superior não terminavam o seu curso em 2003." Relatório da OCDE de avaliação do ensino superior – O Relatório da OCDE: A avaliação do sistema de ensino superior em Portugal, source: OECD report, website: www.portugal.gov.pt – Official website of the Government of Portuguese Republic, date: 14 December 2006, retrieved March 2007 (in Portuguese) Despite their problems, many good institutions have a long tradition of excellence in teaching and research, where students and professors can attain their highest academic ambitions.
Over 35% of college-age citizens (20 years old) attend one of the country's higher education institutions http://www.portugal.gov.pt/pt/GC18/Governo/Ministerios/MCTES/Intervencoes/Pages/20100111_MCTES_Int_Contrato_Confianca_EnsSup.aspx Um Contrato de confiança no Ensino Superior para o futuro de Portugal, Government of Portugal official site portugal.gov.pt
University and polytechnic Portugal has two main systems of higher education: