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- Spain is placed in first place by distance enrollees and fourth by market value in Europe
Published by: El País
Online higher education is growing at a rapid pace, driven by the demand for greater geographic flexibility, the proliferation of digital platforms, and the increasing integration of hybrid models into traditional universities. The Observatory on Online Universities in Europe, a comparative analysis of 26 countries prepared by the Virtual Universities portal, shows that there are 338,000 students enrolled in fully digital university programs in the country, out of a total of 1.75 million. And 68% of them are studying bachelor’s degrees.
Rafael Puyol, president of the International University of La Rioja (UNIR), argues that “it is not only about studying online, but also about a model that combines training with professional and personal life and that incorporates data and artificial intelligence (AI) to personalise learning. In addition, they contribute to understanding education as a continuous process, not as a closed stage.” The Spanish system is characterised by a hybrid public-private model of distance higher education, with 1.3 million students enrolled in public universities and 424,000 in private universities. The National University of Distance Education (UNED) is the largest institution in the country and one of the main in Europe, with more than 156,000 students distributed in 62 centers in Spain and 15 abroad. Its system combines digital resources with face-to-face exams or through proctoring through webcam and microphone during online tests (proctoring). Together with the UNED, five completely virtual private companies operate.
Degrees issued by recognised universities have full legal validity and the same value as face-to-face degrees. Strictly digital centres “offer students from other countries the possibility of accessing a degree from a recognised country without assuming the costs of travel, accommodation and maintenance”, says Joaquín Aldás, researcher at the Valencian Institute of Economic Research (Ivie) and co-author of U-Ranking.
The business is growing because there is a demand for education all over the world, but “especially in emerging countries”, says Cristina Ruiz, president of the Proeduca group. “There are millions of students who seek to access quality higher education and the online model allows them to go where they did not reach before,” he adds.
It is experiencing a growing demand in Latin America. It expands “through the middle classes, continuous training and a greater awareness that education is key to employability,” Ruiz argues.
Another reason for its boom is given by Ainhoa Marcos, vice president of Education & Public Sector at Odilo: “Today there is greater confidence in digital models because they allow learning continuously, from anywhere and adapting to different learning rhythms and styles,” she says.
Student profile
Where the demand for master’s degrees has grown the most is among those over 35 years of age. Students who want to expand their training, says Aldas. At the UNED, women represent around six out of 10 undergraduate students, while in master’s and micro-degrees they are half. The presence of foreigners over the total number of students enrolled in public distance universities has risen in the last five years, from 3.9% to 4.9%. And the number of students with disabilities has risen to 10,000.
Regarding the most in-demand titles, at UNIR those linked to AI stand out. Undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in data science, applied mathematics or related technological disciplines. Along with areas that maintain a very solid demand over time such as psychology and qualifying degrees such as early childhood education, primary or secondary education, law or engineering.
At the UNED, María Miyar, director of the Employability Observatory, indicates that the degree that has gained the greatest prominence is Early Childhood Education, since its implementation in 2022-2023, when it had nearly 4,000 students, to more than 6,600 students in just four years. Philosophy has also risen, with an increase of 8%, as well as Industrial Electronic Engineering and Automation. And the degree in Psychology has gained weight, which now accounts for 25% of the total number of students enrolled at the UNED.
Special mention should be made of the microdegrees, which began to be implemented at this university in the 2021-22 academic year and since then have increased the number of enrolments by 155%. In addition, those enrolled in master’s degree studies have grown by 15% in this period.
UNIR points out that more and more students are looking to complement their training with micro-credits or their own programs that allow them to acquire very specific skills adapted to the professional environment. With a focus more connected to the labor market, they highlight.
Regarding the challenges, the biggest is “the dropout rate from online training, which is very high; it is not an easy teaching to follow as it often occurs in solitude, without interaction with other students,” recalls Aldás.
Quality assessment agencies warn of laxity in some distance learning degrees, especially in those qualifying master’s degrees that require regulated internships, and insist on the need to improve both the control and the quality of internships when they take place abroad, concludes Aldás.
Business in figures
The Spanish digital education market is the fourth largest by value in Europe behind the United Kingdom (€8,596 million), Germany (€3,000 million) and Italy (€2,578 million), reaching an estimated value of €2,493 million in 2024, according to the Observatory on Online Universities in Europe. Estimates put this business at $8.83 billion in 2033.
Cristina Ruiz, from Proeduca, says that universities “need to continuously update their degrees, incorporate technology and adapt to new learning models that artificial intelligence is going to accelerate decisively and that require very relevant investments, which is growing the interest of venture capital funds in entering their shareholding”.
For Joaquín Aldás, from the Ivie and co-author of U-Ranking, “from a business perspective it is a profitable business due to its almost zero dedication to research, a very high weight of the master’s degree and, above all, of the non-face-to-face postgraduate degree, as well as its concentration in branches of knowledge in high demand”.