HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Higher education in Portugal is divided into two main subsystems:
university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...
and polytechnic education. It is provided in autonomous public and private
universities A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United State ...
, university institutes,
polytechnic institute An institute of technology (also referred to as: technological university, technical university, university of technology, technological educational institute, technical college, polytechnic university or just polytechnic) is an institution of te ...
s and higher education institutions of other types. The higher education institutions of Portugal grant the licentiate,
master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.
and
doctoral A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' l ...
academic degree An academic degree is a qualification awarded to students upon successful completion of a course of study in higher education, usually at a college or university. These institutions commonly offer degrees at various levels, usually including und ...
s, 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, a system of '' numerus clausus'' is enforced through a national database on student admissions. In addition, every higher education institution offers also a number 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 The University of Coimbra (UC; pt, Universidade de Coimbra, ) is a public research university in Coimbra, Portugal. First established in Lisbon in 1290, it went through a number of relocations until moving permanently to Coimbra in 1537. The u ...
, was first established in
Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits w ...
before moving to
Coimbra Coimbra (, also , , or ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2011 census was 143,397, in an area of . The fourth-largest urban area in Portugal after Lisbon, Porto, and Braga, it is the largest cit ...
. Historically, within the scope of the now defunct
Portuguese Empire The Portuguese Empire ( pt, Império Português), also known as the Portuguese Overseas (''Ultramar Português'') or the Portuguese Colonial Empire (''Império Colonial Português''), was composed of the overseas colonies, factories, and the ...
, the Portuguese founded in 1792 the oldest engineering school of the
Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America, North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. ...
(the
Real Academia de Artilharia, Fortificação e Desenho The ''Instituto Militar de Engenharia'' (IME; en, Military Institute of Engineering) is an engineering institute maintained by the Brazilian Army with federal support. IME is the oldest and one of the best ranked engineering schools in Brazil ...
), as well as the oldest medical college of
Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...
(the
Escola Médico-Cirúrgica de Goa Goa Medical College (GMC) is a government medical college and hospital in Goa, India. It is one of the oldest medical colleges in Asia. It is currently an organic institution of the Goa University (GU), being its oldest unit. History Since ...
) in 1842.


Overview

In
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...
, 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 Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pr ...
,
law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
, pharmaceutical sciences,
natural science Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...
s,
economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics anal ...
,
psychology Psychology is the science, scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immens ...
or
veterinary medicine Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in animals. Along with this, it deals with animal rearing, husbandry, breeding, research on nutri ...
are taught only in university institutions. Other fields like
engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...
,
technology Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, scien ...
,
management Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activitie ...
,
education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...
,
agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people ...
,
sport Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...
s, or
humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at t ...
are taught both in university and polytechnic institutions. Specifically vocationally oriented degrees such as,
nursing Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health ...
, health care technician, accounting technician,
preschool A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary sch ...
and
primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...
teaching, are only offered by the polytechnic institutions. The oldest university is the
University of Coimbra The University of Coimbra (UC; pt, Universidade de Coimbra, ) is a public research university in Coimbra, Portugal. First established in Lisbon in 1290, it went through a number of relocations until moving permanently to Coimbra in 1537. The u ...
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 (
concordat A concordat is a convention between the Holy See and a sovereign state that defines the relationship between the Catholic Church and the state in matters that concern both,René Metz, ''What is Canon Law?'' (New York: Hawthorn Books, 1960 st Edi ...
ary status), was instituted by decree of the
Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...
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 de Lisboa (ISEL) is a Portuguese higher education polytechnic institution of engineering and technology. Headquartered in Lisbon and a part of the Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa. See also *List of colleges ...
, the
Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto Polytechnic of Porto - School of Engineering (ISEP) is a public polytechnic higher learning and research engineering institute, located in the city of Porto, Portugal. ISEP is divided in 8 departments, with an emphasis on applied science and tech ...
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 A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offerin ...
(''faculdade''). Institute (''instituto'') and school (''escola'') are also common designations for autonomous units of Portuguese higher learning institutions, and are always used in the polytechnical 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', 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 legislation 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. Only university institutions carry out fundamental research in addition to
research and development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving existi ...
.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 polytechnical institutions have established to some extent their own research and development units. There are also special higher education institutions linked with the
military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
and the
police The police are a Law enforcement organization, constituted body of Law enforcement officer, persons empowered by a State (polity), state, with the aim to law enforcement, enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citize ...
. 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 An air force academy or air academy is a national institution that provides initial officer training, possibly including undergraduate level education, to air force officer cadets who are preparing to be commissioned officers in a national air for ...
, the
Military Academy A military academy or service academy is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps. It normally provides education in a military environment, the exact definition depending on the country concerned. ...
, the Naval School and the ''
Instituto Superior de Ciências Policiais e Segurança Interna The Instituto Superior de Ciências Policiais e Segurança Interna (Portuguese for ''Higher Institute of Police Sciences and Homeland Security'') is a Portuguese higher education institution, a police university institute or Police academy of the ...
''. According to the
OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate ...
's
Programme for International Student Assessment The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a worldwide study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in member and non-member nations intended to evaluate educational systems by measuring 15-yea ...
(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. 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.


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 Secondary education or post-primary education covers two phases on the International Standard Classification of Education scale. Level 2 or lower secondary education (less commonly junior secondary education) is considered the second and final ph ...
attainment, and a high
illiteracy Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in Writing, written form in some specific context of use. In other wo ...
rate for Western European standards. However, during the last decade of the Estado Novo regime, from the 1960s to the 1974
Carnation Revolution The Carnation Revolution ( pt, Revolução dos Cravos), also known as the 25 April ( pt, 25 de Abril, links=no), was a military coup by left-leaning military officers that overthrew the authoritarian Estado Novo regime on 25 April 1974 in Lisbo ...
, 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 fees) that can be a financial burden for many students, 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 polytechnical 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. 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. 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. Public or private higher education institutions or courses cannot operate, or are not accredited, if they are not recognized by the Ministerio da Ciencia, 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. 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 . After 2006, with the approval of new legislation 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. 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. Over 35% of college-age citizens (20 years old) attend one of the country's higher education institutions (compared with 50% in the United States and 35% in the
OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate ...
countries).


University and polytechnic

Portugal has two main systems of higher education: * The
university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...
system, which is the oldest, has its origins in the 13th century. It is composed of thirteen
public universities A public university or public college is a university or college that is in owned by the state or receives significant public funds through a national or subnational government, as opposed to a private university. Whether a national university ...
, one public university institute, a public open university, and several private universities and university institutes. * The polytechnic system, that began offering higher education in the 1980s after the former industrial and commercial schools were converted into engineering and administration higher education schools (so its origins could be traced back to some earlier
vocational education Vocational education is education that prepares people to work as a technician or to take up employment in a skilled craft or trade as a tradesperson or artisan. Vocational Education can also be seen as that type of education given to an i ...
schools of the 19th century).ENGINEERING EDUCATION IN PORTUGAL, European Federation of National Engineering Associations
accessed December 2006
It is composed of fifteen state-run polytechnic institutes, public and private non-integrated polytechnic institutions, and other similar institutions. The state-run universities (''Universidades'') are governed by a Rector, and are groupings of faculties, and university institutes, departments or schools. They have been created mostly in the most populated and industrialized areas near the coast (although strategically balanced with three establishments opened after 1970 in the northern, central and southern interior regions), being established in the main cities. Two of these universities are located in the Azores and Madeira Islands, and the remaining eleven in
Continental Portugal Continental Portugal ( pt, Portugal continental, ) or mainland Portugal comprises the bulk of the Portuguese Republic, namely that part on the Iberian Peninsula and so in Continental Europe, having approximately 95% of the total population and ...
. Three of them are located in Lisbon, the capital of Portugal (four considering also the Lisbon University Institute ISCTE, a large public university institute). Public universities have full autonomy in the creation and delivery of degree programmes, which are to be registered at DGES – ''Direcção-Geral do Ensino Superior'' (State Agency for Higher Education).Tertiary Education in Portugal – Background Report prepared to support the international assessment of the Portuguese system of tertiary education, Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education, p. 63 (April 2006)
, accessed December 2006
Universities are regulated by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education, and are represented as a whole by the
CRUP – Conselho de Reitores das Universidades Portuguesas
'. The state-run polytechnic institutes (''Institutos Politécnicos'') are governed by a
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
, and are groupings of superior schools (''escolas superiores'') and institutes, in major cities these also include superior institutes (''institutos superiores''). They have been created across the country after 1980. The fast expansion of the polytechnic institutes, whose entrance and teaching requirements before the mid-2000s were in general less demanding than the universities' criteria, was an administrative attempt to reduce the elevated rate of pre-higher education abandon and to increase the number of (under)graduates per one million inhabitants in Portugal which were dramatically below the European average (this does not imply that its students haven't become competent professionals). For the Portuguese State it was also considerably faster and cheaper to build the ''Institutos Politécnicos'' (Polytechnic Institutes) in almost all district capitals across the country, than build a few new universities – in average, state-funding per student is about 60% higher for university students than for polytechnic students; however, even university students' average funding per capita is about 60% lower in Portugal than in Scandinavia or North America. The number of doctorate-level teaching staff in the universities has been much larger than polytechnic's – only after the 2006 Bologna Process, polytechnics reached a 10% share of doctorate-level teachers, while universities had always been home to a teaching staff with over 40% of doctorates.Portugal é o país da UE onde despesa em investigação e desenvolvimento mais cresceu
Público (13 December 2008)
Since the mid-2000s, after many reforms, upgrades and changes, including the Bologna process, the polytechnic institutes have become ''
de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with '' de jure'' ("by l ...
'' technical universities with little formal difference between them and the classic full chartered universities (polytechnics can't award doctorate degrees and, in general, they are not true research institutions, with few exceptions). The creation of degree programmes by public polytechnics require their prior approval from Government, through DGES – ''Direccção Geral do Ensino Superior'' (State Agency for Higher Education). Polytechnics are regulated by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education, and are represented as a whole by the
CCISP – Conselho Coordenador dos Institutos Superiores Politécnicos Portugueses
'. The creation of private institutions and delivery of degree programmes by them, require prior approval from Government, through DGES – ''Direccção Geral do Ensino Superior'', after assessment by experts teams, which are nominated by the Government. This system has resulted in increasing manifestations of concern from polytechnic and, above all, private institutions, arguing against discretionary attitudes and unnecessary bureaucracy. Government replies defend the necessity of maintaining selective mechanisms to secure a minimum level of institution quality, rationalize the whole system, and protect educational standards. In the 1990s and 2000s, there was anyway a fast growth and proliferation of private higher education and state-run polytechnical institutions with lower educational standards and ambiguous academic integrity. Prof. Manuel Caldeira Cabral, Economics Department, EEG – Minho Universitybr>Ensino superior cresceu nas instituições menos procuradas e com médias mais baixas
Público (8 January 2007)
Admission to public university programmes are often more demanding and selective than to their equivalent in public polytechnic and private institutions. Many specific university institutions and degrees are also regarded as more prestigious and academically robust than their peers from the polytechnic system or from certain less notable university institutions.


History of the university subsector

Public university schools have a long history in Portugal. They started in the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
, and like other
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
an
medieval universities A medieval university was a corporation organized during the Middle Ages for the purposes of higher education. The first Western European institutions generally considered to be universities were established in present-day Italy (including ...
at the time, they were founded by the monarchs under the authority and supervision of the
Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
. For many centuries there was only one university, the
University of Coimbra The University of Coimbra (UC; pt, Universidade de Coimbra, ) is a public research university in Coimbra, Portugal. First established in Lisbon in 1290, it went through a number of relocations until moving permanently to Coimbra in 1537. The u ...
, founded in 1290 in
Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits w ...
. It was founded as a ''
Studium Generale is the old customary name for a medieval university in medieval Europe. Overview There is no official definition for the term . The term ' first appeared at the beginning of the 13th century out of customary usage, and meant a place where stud ...
'' (''Estudo Geral''). Scientiae thesaurus mirabilis, the royal charter announcing the institution of the current University of Coimbra was dated 1 March of that year, although efforts had been made at least since 1288 to create this first university studies in Portugal. Throughout history it transferred between
Coimbra Coimbra (, also , , or ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2011 census was 143,397, in an area of . The fourth-largest urban area in Portugal after Lisbon, Porto, and Braga, it is the largest cit ...
and Lisbon several times, definitely settling in Coimbra during the 16th century (1537). The '' Colégio do Espírito Santo'', a
university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...
college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offerin ...
, was an old higher learning institution which operated between 1559 and 1759 in
Évora Évora ( , ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. It has 53,591 inhabitants (2021), in an area of 1307.08 km2. It is the historic capital of the Alentejo and serves as the seat of the Évora District. Due to its well-preserved old ...
, but it was shut down during the Marquis of Pombal government, because it was run by the
Jesuits , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...
, and the marquis implemented strong secular policies. A new state-run university at Évora was founded in 1973 – the
University of Évora The University of Évora (''Universidade de Évora'') is a public university in Évora, Portugal. It is the second oldest university in the country, established in 1559 by the cardinal Henry, and receiving University status in April of the sa ...
. Within the scope of the
Portuguese Empire The Portuguese Empire ( pt, Império Português), also known as the Portuguese Overseas (''Ultramar Português'') or the Portuguese Colonial Empire (''Império Colonial Português''), was composed of the overseas colonies, factories, and the ...
, the Portuguese founded in 1792 the oldest engineering school of
Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived ...
(the
Real Academia de Artilharia, Fortificação e Desenho The ''Instituto Militar de Engenharia'' (IME; en, Military Institute of Engineering) is an engineering institute maintained by the Brazilian Army with federal support. IME is the oldest and one of the best ranked engineering schools in Brazil ...
), as well as the oldest medical college of
Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...
(the
Goa Medical College Goa Medical College (GMC) is a government medical college and hospital in Goa, India. It is one of the oldest medical colleges in Asia. It is currently an organic institution of the Goa University (GU), being its oldest unit. History Since ...
) in 1842. Since the population was largely illiterate, the two universities at Coimbra and Évora, and some later higher-education schools in Lisbon (e.g. ''(Escola Politécnica: 1837-1911; Curso Superior de Letras: 1859-1911; and Curso Superior de Comércio: 1884–1911)'') and Porto ''(successively Aula Náutica: 1762-1803; Real Academia da Marinha e Comércio: 1803-1837; and the Academia Politécnica: 1837–1911)'', were enough for a small population inside a territory like
Continental Portugal Continental Portugal ( pt, Portugal continental, ) or mainland Portugal comprises the bulk of the Portuguese Republic, namely that part on the Iberian Peninsula and so in Continental Europe, having approximately 95% of the total population and ...
of the 16th-19th centuries. During the 19th century some other isolated higher-education schools were established. For instance, two
medical school A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, or part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS, ...
s were established: the Lisbon Royal Medical-Surgical School and Oporto Royal Medical-Surgical School opened in 1825. They were later incorporated into two new universities created in 1911 in Lisbon and Oporto, which also absorbed Lisbon's former ''Escola Politécnica'' and ''Curso Superior de Letras'', and Oporto's ''Academia Politécnica'', which were reformed and upgraded their facilities in the same year. Other successive institutions were the IST – Instituto Superior Técnico and the ''Instituto Superior de Comércio'', successor of the former ''Curso Superior de Comércio'', (today ISEG – Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão), both born from the former Lisbon Institute of Industry and Commerce which originated the creation of university schools in 1911. With the advent of the Republic, the
University of Lisbon The University of Lisbon (ULisboa; pt, Universidade de Lisboa, ) is a public research university in Lisbon, and the largest university in Portugal. It was founded in 2013, from the merger of two previous public universities located in Lisbon, th ...
and the University of Oporto were created in 1911. In 1930, a new university in Lisbon was created, the Technical University of Lisbon, which incorporated the ''Instituto Superior Técnico'' and some other university institutes and colleges such as the ''Instituto Superior de Comércio'', and agriculture and veterinary schools. In 1972 the ISCTE, a public university institute, was created in Lisbon by the decree ''Decreto-Lei nº 522/72, of 15 December'', as a first step towards a new and innovative public university in the city. Due to the
Carnation Revolution The Carnation Revolution ( pt, Revolução dos Cravos), also known as the 25 April ( pt, 25 de Abril, links=no), was a military coup by left-leaning military officers that overthrew the authoritarian Estado Novo regime on 25 April 1974 in Lisbo ...
of 1974 this first facility of a never-completed projected larger university stayed alone. In 1973 a new wave of state-run universities opened in
Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits w ...
– the New University of Lisbon,
Braga Braga ( , ; cel-x-proto, Bracara) is a city and a municipality, capital of the northwestern Portuguese district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality has a resident population of 193,333 inhabitants (in ...
– the Minho University and
Évora Évora ( , ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. It has 53,591 inhabitants (2021), in an area of 1307.08 km2. It is the historic capital of the Alentejo and serves as the seat of the Évora District. Due to its well-preserved old ...
– the
University of Évora The University of Évora (''Universidade de Évora'') is a public university in Évora, Portugal. It is the second oldest university in the country, established in 1559 by the cardinal Henry, and receiving University status in April of the sa ...
. These last days of the Estado Novo régime were marked by the most significant growth in enrolments for both secondary and university education in Portugal. After 1974, the anti-Estado Novo revolution's year, new public universities were created in
Vila Real Vila Real () is the capital and largest city of the Vila Real District, in the North region. It is also the seat of the Douro intermunicipal community and of the Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro historical province. The Vila Real municipality cover ...
– the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Aveiro – the University of Aveiro,
Covilhã Covilhã () is a city and a municipality in the Centro region, Portugal. The city proper had 34,772 inhabitants in 2001. The municipality population in 2011 was 51,797, in an area of . It is located in the Beiras e Serra da Estrela subregion and ...
– the University of Beira Interior (upgraded from the former Polytechnic Institute of Covilhã which was created in 1973), Faro – the University of the Algarve,
Madeira ) , anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira") , song_type = Regional anthem , image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg , map_alt=Location of Madeira , map_caption=Location of Madeira , subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...
– the University of Madeira, and the
Azores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...
– the University of the Azores. In 1988, the Portuguese government founded a public
distance university Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at a school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance. Traditionally, this usually in ...
, the ''Universidade Aberta'' ( Aberta University), an "Open University" with headquarters in Lisbon, regional branches in Porto and Coimbra, and study centres all over the country. In the 1980s and 1990s, a boom of private institutions was experienced and many private universities started to open. Most private universities had a poor reputation and were known for making it easy for students to enter and also to get high grades. In 2007, several of those private institutions or their heirs, were investigated and faced compulsory closure (for example, the infamous Independente University closing) or official criticism with recommendations that the state-managed investigation proposed for improving their quality and avoid termination. Without large endowments like those received, for example, by many US private universities and colleges which are attractive to the best researchers and students, the private higher education institutions of Portugal, with a few exceptions, do not have neither the financial support nor the academic profile to reach the highest teaching and research standards of the top Portuguese public universities. In addition, the private universities have faced a restrictive lack of collaboration with the major enterprises which, however, have developed fruitful relationships with many public higher education institutions. Nowadays, the Catholic University of Portugal, a private university with branches in the cities of
Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits w ...
,
Oporto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropo ...
,
Braga Braga ( , ; cel-x-proto, Bracara) is a city and a municipality, capital of the northwestern Portuguese district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality has a resident population of 193,333 inhabitants (in ...
,
Viseu Viseu () is a city and municipality in the Centro Region of Portugal and the capital of the district of the same name, with a population of 100,000 inhabitants, and center of the Viseu Dão Lafões intermunipical community, with 267,633 inhabi ...
, and
Figueira da Foz Figueira da Foz (), also known as Figueira for short, is a city and a municipality in the Coimbra District, in Portugal. Practically at the midpoint of the Iberian Peninsula's Atlantic coast, it is located at the mouth of the Mondego River, we ...
(founded before the others, in 1967, and officially recognized in 1971), offers some well-recognized degrees. This private university has a unique status, being run by the
Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
. The Portuguese universities have been the exclusive granters of
master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.
and
doctoral degree A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' ...
s in the country and are to this day the major source of
research and development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving existi ...
in Portugal. Today, as in the past, they have full autonomy to offer all levels of
academic degrees An academic degree is a qualification awarded to students upon successful completion of a course of study in higher education, usually at a college or university. These institutions commonly offer degrees at various levels, usually including unde ...
and the power to create new graduate or undergraduate courses in almost every major field of study. By the time of the implementation of the Bologna Process (2006) in Portuguese higher education, 42.5% of the state-run university teaching staff had a doctorate degree in 2005 – 65% in 2007 after the Bologna Process. (see
list of universities in Portugal This list of universities and colleges in Portugal gives the Portuguese institutions providing higher education. Higher education in Portugal is organized into two systems: university and polytechnic. There are public and private higher educati ...
) Due to the Portuguese sovereign debt crisis in the late 2000s, and the subsequent IMF-EU financial assistance to the Portuguese Republic from 2011 onward, many universities and other higher education institutions suffered financially. Many were on verge of bankruptcy and were forced to increase its admissions and tuition fees while the budget dwindled and staff members and bonuses were being reduced.


History of the polytechnic subsector

Portuguese learning institutions called "polytechnics" or "industrial and commercial institutes" were established in various periods with very different roles and objectives. They were designations for institutions ranging from university or polytechnic institutes to technical and vocational institutes. *The Polytechnic Schools at Lisbon and Porto: The 19th century – the industrialization era – created the need for new education programs in the country, the "industrial studies". In 1837, the ''Escola Politécnica'' (Polytechnic School) in Lisbon and the ''Academia Politécnica'' (Polytechnic Academy) in Porto were opened. They were university higher learning institutions conferring academic degrees, fully focused on the
science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence ...
s,
mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
, and
engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...
. Apart from sharing the name, they were not related to the polytechnic subsystem which has existed in Portugal since the 1970s, or to any current institution belonging to it. The label and legal statute of ''University'' had been reserved for exclusive use by the University of Coimbra, but with the Republican revolution in 1911, two new universities were founded. The ''Escola Politécnica'' and ''Academia Politécnica'' were the core from which the sciences and engineering faculties, respectively, of the new universities of
Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits w ...
and
Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropo ...
emerged. *The Industrial Institutes at Lisbon and Porto: The Prime Minister of the Kingdom, Fontes Pereira de Melo, was not satisfied with the excessive academism of both schools (''Escola Politécnica'' (Polytechnic School) in Lisbon and the ''Academia Politécnica'' (Polytechnic Academy)), as he considered the institutions excessively theoretical for industrial labour force needs, as both were modelled on the only Portuguese university – the ancient University of Coimbra. Thus, in 1852, the minister created the '' Instituto Industrial de Lisboa'' (Lisbon Industrial Institute) which awarded higher education degrees between 1898 and 1911, and the ''
Escola Industrial do Porto Polytechnic of Porto - School of Engineering (ISEP) is a public polytechnic higher learning and research engineering institute, located in the city of Porto, Portugal. ISEP is divided in 8 departments, with an emphasis on applied science and t ...
'' (Porto Industrial School), which a decade later was also declared an Institute and awarded higher education degrees between 1905 and 1918. The '' Instituto Industrial de Lisboa'' gave birth to the ''
IST Ist or IST may refer to: Information Science and Technology * Bachelor's or Master's degree in Information Science and Technology * Graduate School / Faculty of Information Science and Technology, Hokkaido University, Japan * Graduate School ...
'' in 1911, which with other institutions formed the Technical University of Lisbon in 1930. *The Industrial and Commercial Institutes and Schools: The Industrial Superior Studies were cut in 1918 by the minister Azevedo Neves reforms, as the country suffered many social and political convulsions, and the creation in 1911 of the new universities in Lisbon and Porto covered the highest educational needs of the country at the time. Between 1918 and 1974 (until the approval of decree Decreto-Lei 830/74 of 31 December 1974), the Industrial and Commercial Institutes in Porto and Lisbon, plus new ones created in Coimbra (1965) and Aveiro, provided
vocational A vocation () is an occupation to which a person is especially drawn or for which they are suited, trained or qualified. People can be given information about a new occupation through student orientation. Though now often used in non-religious c ...
and technical education, instead of higher education. *Modern-day polytechnic sub sector development:Tertiary Education in Portugal – Background Report prepared to support the international assessment of the Portuguese system of tertiary education, Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education, pp. 95–96 (April 2006)
, accessed December 2006
The idea of creating a polytechnic sector in Portugal can be traced back to the
OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate ...
's Mediterranean Regional Project, MRP, of 1959. This project aimed at assessing future needs for skilled labour in five Mediterranean countries (Italy, Greece, Spain, Yugoslavia and Portugal) and had a lasting impact in terms of the political and social perception of education, with significant effects on the educational structure of the participating countries. These changes included the expansion of the higher education network by creating new university-level institutions, while a binary system was initiated through the establishment of polytechnic institutes and several colleges of teacher training (Parliament Act 5/73 of 25 July). After 1974 the existing polytechnics were transformed into University Institutes under the allegation that they should not remain "second class" institutions. It was in this context that successive governments established contact with the
World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...
and, from 1978 to 1984, about nineteen different missions visited Portugal. A final statement was based on two main principles: *A basic emphasis on an economic approach to higher education to improve efficiency by attaining objectives at the lowest possible cost, e.g. containing long term university degrees while promoting shorter technical degrees, shorter teacher training degrees, higher student/staff ratios, etc. *A perspective of a world division of labour that led defining country specific roles. Although the final report welcomed the expansion of higher education, correcting the prior situation of unequal and limited access, the World Bank did not favour further expansion: "...the enrolment represents 8% of the 18–22 age group and could be considered adequate. ...In view of the rapidly increased university enrolments, which represent an uneconomical drain in the economy... he Bank recommends agradual introduction of quantitative restraints" (World Bank, 1977 Progress report). At the same time, the World Bank urged the Portuguese authorities to restrain enrolment quotas so as to make "better use" and rationalise the supply of
higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after compl ...
and improve the management of the system, namely in terms of
accountability Accountability, in terms of ethics and governance, is equated with answerability, blameworthiness, liability, and the expectation of account-giving. As in an aspect of governance, it has been central to discussions related to problems in the pub ...
, coordination, and
efficiency Efficiency is the often measurable ability to avoid wasting materials, energy, efforts, money, and time in doing something or in producing a desired result. In a more general sense, it is the ability to do things well, successfully, and without ...
. Future expansions should be planned, taking into account manpower needs, and demographic and enrolment trends. Subsequently, the World Bank produced two "Staff Appraisal Reports", which provided insights about the negotiations between the Bank's Mission and the
Portuguese government , border = Central , image = , caption = , date = , state = Portuguese Republic , address = Official Residence of the Prime Minister Estrela, Lisbon , appointed = President ...
, and further confirmed the Bank's priorities. In the first Report of Assessment (No. 1807-PO, 1978), the Bank insisted on three criteria: balancing the supply of higher education graduates with the economic needs of the country, developing a persistent and consistent policy towards
vocational education Vocational education is education that prepares people to work as a technician or to take up employment in a skilled craft or trade as a tradesperson or artisan. Vocational Education can also be seen as that type of education given to an i ...
, and upgrading teacher training programs. The Bank suggested that Portugal needed not only to train high level technicians but also middle level personnel (on a yearly basis: 1400 technicians with short cycle post-secondary education, 500 agricultural technicians and 6000 middle-level managers). Subsequently, the government passed Decree-Law 397/77 of 17 September, which established a numerus clausus for every university study programme and eliminated the threat to the new short vocational education programs – that without reducing the supply of engineering jobs, graduates of the technician training institutes would find employment too scarce. The World Bank was critical of the erratic policies toward the existing technical institutes, and of the excessive enrolment in university engineering programs and the lax approach on managing vacancy quotas, and raised the issue of
diseconomies of scale In microeconomics, diseconomies of scale are the cost disadvantages that economic actors accrue due to an increase in organizational size or in output, resulting in production of goods and services at increased per-unit costs. The concept of dis ...
in the system, suggesting that there were too many institutions with small dimensions. The government replied to the Bank's demands with Decree-Law 513-T/79, which established a network of polytechnic institutes, including Higher Schools of Education. The main objectives of Polytechnic education were: to provide education with an applied and technical emphasis and strong vocational orientation, and for training intermediate-level technicians for industries, service companies and educational units (first cycle of basic education). During the 1970s and 1980s, a network of polytechnic institutes replaced short-cycle technical training with polytechnic higher education. This network include the Higher Schools of Education (''Escolas Superiores de Educação'') They were opened in many cities as confederations of ''Escolas Superiores'' and ''Institutos Superiores'' providing short-cycle ''bacharelato'' degrees (in education, music, engineering, management, agriculture, and other areas), many of which lacked a solid and realistic strategy. Between 1979 and 1986, a few were almost immediately upgraded to create new universities, like the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, the University of Beira Interior, or the University of the Algarve. Some of those first polytechnics were transformed into University Institutes so that they would not remain "second class" institutions, and a few years later were upgraded to full chartered universities. The polytechnic institutes, heirs of a large network of reputable but discontinued intermediate schools with traditions in technical and
vocational education Vocational education is education that prepares people to work as a technician or to take up employment in a skilled craft or trade as a tradesperson or artisan. Vocational Education can also be seen as that type of education given to an i ...
, which also incorporated other older institutions formerly known as industrial institutes (see '' Instituto Industrial de Lisboa'', ''
Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa The Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa (ISEL) is a Portuguese higher education polytechnic institution of engineering and technology. Headquartered in Lisbon and a part of the Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa. See also *List of colleges ...
'' and ''
Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto Polytechnic of Porto - School of Engineering (ISEP) is a public polytechnic higher learning and research engineering institute, located in the city of Porto, Portugal. ISEP is divided in 8 departments, with an emphasis on applied science and tech ...
''), were originally created to produce skilled intermediate technicians in specific areas. The short-cycle polytechnical degrees were mainly aimed at training of intermediate technicians for industry and commerce but also for basic health and education, instead of academicians (like biologists, chemists, economists, geographers, historians, lawyers, mathematicians, philosophers, physicians, physicists, et al.), engineers, lecturers, researchers and scientists that were already produced by Portuguese universities. In 1974, the Industrial and Commercial Institutes of
vocational education Vocational education is education that prepares people to work as a technician or to take up employment in a skilled craft or trade as a tradesperson or artisan. Vocational Education can also be seen as that type of education given to an i ...
were transformed into higher learning Superior Institutes of Engineering and Accounting and Administration and initially integrated in the university subsector; although originally exclusively focused on providing short-cycle degrees, the need for a stronger polytechnic sector, and these schools' history and purpose, led them to be integrated in the polytechnic subsector in the late 1980s (Administrative Rule 389/88 of 25 October 1988 – ''Decreto-Lei n.º 389/88, de 25 de Outubro''). However, in the following decades the polytechnic institutions didn't assume their specific role as tertiary education vocational schools, which were created to award practical diplomas in more technical or basic fields. Non-university intermediate professionals and skilled workers for the industry, agriculture, commerce and other services where needed. As more new public university institutions were founded or expanded, polytechnics didn't feel comfortable with their subaltern status in the Portuguese higher education system and a desire to be upgraded into university-like institutions grew among the polytechnic institutions' administrations. This desire of emancipation and evolution from polytechnic status to university status, was not followed by better qualified teaching staff, better facilities for teaching or researching, or by a stronger curricula with a more selective admission criteria, comparable with those enforced by almost all public university institutions. Criteria ambiguity and the general lower standards in polytechnic higher education and admission, were fiercely criticised by education personalities like university rectors, regarding issues like the lack of admission exams in mathematics for polytechnic engineering applicants, and the proliferation of administration and management courses everywhere, many without a proper curriculum in mathematics, statistics and economics-related disciplines. After its creation in the late 1970s, polytechnic institutions used to offer a 3-year course (the engineering superior institutes created in 1974, awarded 4-year ''bacharelato'' degrees before have been integrated into the polytechnic sector in 1988), awarding a ''bacharelato'' degree (lower than a bachelor's degree) instead of a university ''licenciatura'' ( licentiate) degree which was four to six years. The Portuguese ''licenciatura'' was a longer undergraduate degree, which included a
licensure Licensure means a restricted practice or a restriction on the use of an occupational title, requiring a license. A license created under a "practice act" requires a license before performing a certain activity, such as driving a car on public roa ...
for working in a particular profession and an accreditation by the respective professional orders – ''ordens profissionais''. The ''licenciatura'' diploma was also required for those applicants who wished to undertake masters and doctorate programs. The publication of Administrative Rule 645/88 of 21 September 1988 authorised polytechnic schools to teach two-year courses of specialised higher education (CESE – ''Curso de Estudos Superiores Especializados'') within the fields already taught at the school. This system guaranteed a prominent independence between the two levels (bachelor's and CESE) since it was not compulsory to maintain a coherence of subjects. The diploma of specialised higher education (DESE – ''Diploma de Estudos Superiores Especializados'') thus emerged much more as a post-graduate diploma than a complementary education to the bachelor student who wanted a licentiate degree. Changing the structure of the CESE into two-stage degrees obtained in two levels known as ''licenciatura bietápica'' (bachelor's and licentiate, in which access to the second level is granted immediately after completing the first), as consigned in Administrative Rule 413A/98 of 17 July 1998, removed the formal differences between the university ''licenciatura'' and the new two-stage polytechnic ''licenciatura'' (''licenciatura bietápica''). By the government decree of July 1998 the polytechnics started to offer a two-stage curriculum (the first three years conferring a ''bacharelato'' degree, the following two years a ''licenciatura bietápica'' degree); both are undergraduate degrees, but the universities were offering a single licentiate degree (''licenciatura'') of four to five years. This was changed with the Bologna process with a new system of three years for a bachelor's degree (''licenciatura''). Two additional years grant a master's degree (''mestrado'') which is conferred by the polytechnic institute under protocols with a partner university or alone when the polytechnic institution is in full compliance with the necessary requirements (proper research activity, doctoral teaching staff, and budget). The doctoral degree (''doutoramento'') is conferred only by the universities, as it always has been. By the time of the implementation of the Bologna Process (2006) in Portuguese higher education, 9.5% of the state-run polytechnic teaching staff had a doctorate degree in 2005 – 15% in 2007 after the Bologna Process. The Lisbon Superior Institute of Engineering (ISEL, one of the colleges resulting from the former Lisbon Institute of Industry, today part of the Polytechnical Institute of Lisbon), with the support of the University of Lisbon (UL), approved in 2005 the express will to reintegrate the university subsector as part of the University of Lisbon which do not have a Faculty of Engineering and through the assimilation and reorganization of ISEL could transform that polytechnic engineering school to a new university engineering school inside UL. For ISEL itself, this change could represent an emancipation from the limited polytechnic system, which has been regarded as a minor higher education subsystem in Portugal (although by the mid-2000s with many upgrades and the Bologna process, the formal differences are less notorious), due to limitations that were imposed by State Education Laws on polytechnics (such as the professor's career, the professor's wages, the State funds spending and the teaching competences of the polytechnics). The Porto Superior Institute of Engineering (ISEP) was never merged into the University of Porto (or one of its predecessor schools, the Polytechnic Academy). The original proposal was dropped, partially because the University of Porto has owned its own engineering school since 1911 – the '' Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto'', known as ''Faculdade de Engenharia'' since 1926, unlike the University of Lisbon.
Nursing Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health ...
and health technologies technicians (technicians in clinical analysis, radiology, audiology, nuclear medicine and other technical fields in health) are also polytechnic higher education courses offered by nursing schools and schools of health technologies which are grouped into polytechnic institutes, and, in some cases, into universities (remaining in each of those situations as autonomous schools belonging to the polytechnic subsector). The nursing schools were legally defined as comparable to polytechnic institutions in 1988 (Administrative Rule 480/88 of 23 December 1988 – ''Decreto Lei n.º 480/88, de 23 de Dezembro''), and started to provide
higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after compl ...
degrees in nursing in 1990 (Rule 821/89 of 15 September 1990 – ''Portaria n.º 821/89, de 15 de Setembro''). Before 1990 nursing schools were not academic-degree-conferring institutions, and did not belong to the
higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after compl ...
al system. In 1995 they were fully integrated into the polytechnic subsystem (Administrative Rule 205/95 of 5 August 1995 – ''Decreto Lei n.º 205/95, de 5 de Agosto''), and in 1999 the new courses in nursing were approved, conferring a ''licenciatura'' diploma (Administrative Rule 353/99 of 8 September 1999 – ''Decreto Lei n.º 353/99, de 8 de Setembro''). Between 1918 and 1974, some older schools that are today integrated into the polytechnic subsector were industrial and commercial schools of
vocational education Vocational education is education that prepares people to work as a technician or to take up employment in a skilled craft or trade as a tradesperson or artisan. Vocational Education can also be seen as that type of education given to an i ...
, as well as intermediate schools for primary-education-teacher training, schools of agriculture, or nursing schools. Current establishments for polytechnic studies in engineering such as the ''
Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa The Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa (ISEL) is a Portuguese higher education polytechnic institution of engineering and technology. Headquartered in Lisbon and a part of the Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa. See also *List of colleges ...
'', ''
Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto Polytechnic of Porto - School of Engineering (ISEP) is a public polytechnic higher learning and research engineering institute, located in the city of Porto, Portugal. ISEP is divided in 8 departments, with an emphasis on applied science and tech ...
'', '' Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Coimbra'', the
nursing school Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health c ...
s, and the current polytechnic schools of education ''(Escolas Superiores de Educação)'' during that period had no relation with
higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after compl ...
, and were known by other names. Admission to these schools was open to people with no complete
secondary education Secondary education or post-primary education covers two phases on the International Standard Classification of Education scale. Level 2 or lower secondary education (less commonly junior secondary education) is considered the second and final ph ...
, with universities reserved for secondary school graduates. For decades, these vocational schools of intermediate education (known as ''ensino médio'') did not have the higher education status or credentials they have now. However, the majority of current polytechnical institutes was fully created in the 1980s and 1990s. It must be remembered that the ''
Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa The Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa (ISEL) is a Portuguese higher education polytechnic institution of engineering and technology. Headquartered in Lisbon and a part of the Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa. See also *List of colleges ...
'' and the ''
Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto Polytechnic of Porto - School of Engineering (ISEP) is a public polytechnic higher learning and research engineering institute, located in the city of Porto, Portugal. ISEP is divided in 8 departments, with an emphasis on applied science and tech ...
'', both born from the earlier industrial institutes (''Instituto Industrial''), were higher education degree-conferring institutions in
engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...
during a short period before 1919, and were known by other institutional names in their long histories. However, in the 1990s and 2000s, a fast growth and proliferation of and state-run polytechnical institutions with lower educational standards and ambiguous academic integrity, was responsible for unnecessary and uneconomic allocation of resources with no adequate quality output in terms of both new highly qualified graduates and research. While across the world polytechnics have transformed themselves into full universities, in Portugal, with the lowest higher education levels in Europe, continues to segregate the sectors based on the world bank model of the 1950s and 1960s. *Metamorphoses of current and Former polytechnic institutes: During the 1980s, the former Polytechnical Institute of Faro, in the Algarve region, southern Portugal, was incorporated into the University of the Algarve, but as a totally independent institution in terms of staff, curricula and competences, remaining a full public polytechnic institution within a larger and independent public university but completely separated (economies of differentiation maybe?). The former and short-lived Polytechnical Institute of Vila Real, in northern Portugal, was closed and then reformed, having been reorganized into a university in the 1980s – the University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro. The University of Beira Interior in
Covilhã Covilhã () is a city and a municipality in the Centro region, Portugal. The city proper had 34,772 inhabitants in 2001. The municipality population in 2011 was 51,797, in an area of . It is located in the Beiras e Serra da Estrela subregion and ...
was founded in 1979 after the closing of a former (also short-lived) polytechnic institute – the PIC – Polytechnic Institute of Covilhã (''Instituto Politécnico da Covilhã'') (1973–1979). A remarkable level of achievements and a successful political lobbying, allowed PIC in 1979 to be promoted by the Portuguese Ministry of Education to a higher institutional level, university institute. Seven years later, in 1986, the University Institute of Beira Interior was granted full university status, becoming the current University of Beira Interior.


Socio-economic composition of students

Based on a research study (''Preferências dos estudantes'', co-authored by Diana Amado Tavares, from ''CIPS – Centro de Investigação de Políticas do Ensino Superior'' (Centre For Research in Higher Education Policies), among others), the Portuguese newspaper
Diário de Notícias ''Diário de Notícias'' () is a Portuguese daily newspaper published in Lisbon, Portugal. Established since 1864, the paper is considered a newspaper of record for Portugal. History and profile ''Diário de Notícias'' was first published in ...
reported on 2 April 2007, that according to the study, pre-higher education students from families with a higher educational and cultural background have a 10 times higher probability of becoming higher education students than the others. And among all higher education students, the family economic and cultural background are decisive on the type of course a student can attain in the higher education system. According to the study, using as an example medicine, it shows that 73,2% of the 2003/2004 medicine freshman admitted to Portuguese
universities A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United State ...
have graduated parents. On the other side, 73% of nursing and health technician students ( polytechnic courses), have parents without
higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after compl ...
. The study shows a relation between parental very low educational levels and the students' options in higher education, where 39% of basic education teacher students, and 20% of management students, have parents with 4 years of study or less, the 4th grade (''4ª classe''). On the other side,
law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
,
natural science Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...
s and related fields (particularly
medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pr ...
), and
fine art In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwor ...
s, are preferred courses of students from families with higher educational and cultural backgrounds. The study reports that about 42,000 unemployed people registered in the employment centers and seeking for a job have a higher education academic degree, with the fields of teaching and education accounting for 32% of those unemployed people, and art and humanities accounting for 12%. The study also concludes that the higher is the financial and educational background of a family, more evident is the student preference of applying to university institutions, and the lower is the number of students desiring to apply to polytechnic institutions. The study was also expected to be published in the European Journal of Higher Education. Another study made by the
University of Lisbon The University of Lisbon (ULisboa; pt, Universidade de Lisboa, ) is a public research university in Lisbon, and the largest university in Portugal. It was founded in 2013, from the merger of two previous public universities located in Lisbon, th ...
for its own students in the period 2003–2008, concluded that popular selective courses with restricted '' numerus clausus'' and demanding high grades to the new applicants (examples include the university degrees of medicine, fine arts, and pharmacy), are mainly attained by students arrived from a wealthier background than that of those students enrolled at unpopular and less selective degree programmes and departments. After the Bologna process implementation in the late 2000s, although most state-run higher education student costs are supported with public money, the increasing tuition fees a student has to pay to attend the a public college or university and the attraction of new types of mature students (enrolled as part-time or evening class students) like employees, businessmen, parents, and pensioners, many departments make a substantial profit from every additional student enrolled in courses, with benefits for the college or university's gross tuition revenue and without loss of educational quality (teacher per student, computer per student, classroom size per student, etc.).


European Higher Education Area

The Bologna Process was a
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
an reform process aimed at establishing a European Higher Education Area by 2010. It was an unusual process in that it was loosely structured and driven by the 45 countries participating in it in cooperation with a number of international organisations, including the
Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it has 46 member states, with a p ...
. The broad objectives of the Bologna Process are to remove the obstacles to student mobility across Europe; to enhance the attractiveness of European higher education worldwide; to establish a common structure of higher education systems across Europe, and for this common structure to be based on two main cycles: undergraduate (1st cycle of study) and graduate (2nd cycle of study). In its drive to improve the quality of higher education and, in turn, human resources across Europe, the Bologna Process play a key role in contributing to the EU's Lisbon Strategy goals which aim to deliver stronger, lasting growth and to create more and better jobs. The reform aim was to create a higher education system in Europe, organised in such a way that: * it is easy to move from one country to the other (within the European Higher Education Area) – for the purpose of further study or employment; * the attractiveness of European higher education is increased so many people from non-European countries also come to study and/or work in Europe; * the European Higher Education Area provides Europe with a broad, high quality and advanced knowledge base, and ensures the further development of Europe as a stable, peaceful and tolerant community. * there will also be a greater convergence between the U.S. and Europe as European higher education adopts aspects of the American system.


Changes

Portugal, like other European States, has conducted educational policies and reforms to accomplish these objectives. This included the reorganization of both university and polytechnic subsystems and the implementation of extensive legal and curricular changes and the adoption of innovative teaching methods. Its field application process was mostly visible in 2006 and 2007. This reform was elaborated in order to attain an education system based on the development of competences rather than on the transmission of knowledge, and included the development of a system of easily readable and comparable degrees aimed to simplify comparison between qualifications across Europe. The flexibility and transparency enabled students to have their qualifications recognised more widely, facilitating freedom of movement around a more transparent EHEA ( European Higher Education Area). This was aided by the establishment of a system of credits in the form of the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) and the adoption of the Diploma Supplement by all countries involved. One academic year corresponds to 60 ECTS-credits that are equivalent to 1500–1800 hours of study. The new model comes closer to the North American and Japanese systems. It gives greater weight to practical training, intensive research projects and the way credits are measured reflects how hard a student has worked. The new evaluation methods reflect not only a student's performance on exams, but also his or her lab experiments, presentations, hours spent on study, innovation capacities and so forth.


Cycles

The European higher education area adopted a system based on three cycles of study, at
bachelor A bachelor is a man who is not and has never been married.Bachelors are, in Pitt & al.'s phrasing, "men who live independently, outside of their parents' home and other institutional settings, who are neither married nor cohabitating". (). Etymo ...
,
master Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...
and
doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...
's level, that is: * 1st cycle of study lasting three or four years to attain a bachelor's degree, in Portugal called a ''licenciatura'' * 2nd cycle of study lasting one or two years to attain a master's degree, in Portugal called a ''mestrado'' * 3rd cycle of study lasting three years to attain a doctorate, in Portugal called a ''doutoramento''


1st cycle degree

*''Licenciatura'' (1st cycle degree): This cycle of study has a curricular units structure geared to the employment market, in which the student can have teaching sessions of a collective nature, sessions of tutorial style personal orientation, stages, and field projects and assignments. This cycle has 180 to 240 credits, called ECTS and normally takes three to four years of full-time study to complete the degree (six to eight curricular semesters). To attain this degree, the student must pass all the curricular units that integrate the course's curricula.


2nd cycle degree

*''Mestrado'' (2nd cycle degree or master): This cycle of study has 90 to 120 credits (ECTS) and the duration of one to two years (three to four curricular semesters). To attain this degree one must pass all the units that integrate the curricula of the course as well as a successful public defence of a thesis, project or stage report. Holders of a national or foreign higher education degree or equivalent can apply to the master's degree's cycle of study. Applicants possessing a scholarly, scientific or professional curriculum, which is recognized as certifying the capacity to accomplish this course can also apply to the master's degree's cycle of study. In engineering, although the use by some institutions of two separated cycles, only having the master's degree (2nd cycle of study) one can be a full chartered engineer. *''Mestrado Integrado'' (Joint degree): According to European regulations the access to several professional activities (medical doctor, engineer, pharmacist, psychologist, architect, lawyer, etc.) can be limited to one who holds a master's degree obtained through an integrated cycle of study with 300 to 360 credits (ECTS) and the duration of 10 to 12 curricular semesters. The access to this cycle of studies is governed by the same norms as access to the 1st cycle of studies.


3rd cycle degree

*''Doutoramento'' (Doctorate cycle): The cycle of studies that leads to the doctoral degree includes the elaboration of an original thesis, especially produced for this purpose and coherent with the branch of knowledge or specialty which may also require the completion of research based curricular units. Applicants already possessing a master's degree or equivalent can apply to the PhD degree's cycle of studies. Applicants holding a bachelor's degree who also possess an excellent scholarly, scientific or professional curriculum which demonstrates the capacity to accomplish this cycle of studies can also apply to the PhD degree's cycle of studies. In addition, applicants possessing a scholarly, scientific or professional curriculum recognised by the university as demonstrating the capacity for the completion of this cycle of studies may also be allowed to apply.


Degree significance and accreditation


Degrees

Schools that adhered to the Bologna process (since 2006–2007) maintained the degree names but their significance changed. In ascending order of importance: ''Bacharelato'' The Portuguese ''bacharelato'' degree awarded by polytechnical institutions or its predecessors, was a
Bachelor degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six y ...
(but not an
honours degree Honours degree has various meanings in the context of different degrees and education systems. Most commonly it refers to a variant of the undergraduate bachelor's degree containing a larger volume of material or a higher standard of study, or ...
, only the then ''licenciatura'' degree was equal to an honours degree) – title: ''Bacharel'' or ''Engenheiro Técnico'' for
engineering technologist An engineering technologist is a professional trained in certain aspects of development and implementation of a respective area of technology. Engineering technology education is even more applied and less theoretical than engineering educat ...
s – abbreviation: none or ''Bach.'' *Non-Bologna: three or four-year course in a polytechnic (before 2007) *Bologna: no longer used. ''Licenciatura'' (Academic
License A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...
) – title: ''Licenciado'' (popular: ''Dr'' or ''Engenheiro'' for a License in
engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...
) – abbreviation used in front of holder's name: ''Lic.'' (popular: ''Dr''. or ''Eng.'' for
Engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considerin ...
, used extensively (formal and colloquially)) *Non-Bologna: licenciatura was an honors degree with four- to six-year course in a university, or a ''Bacharelato'' complemented with one or two extra years in a polytechnic (called ''licenciatura bietápica'', meaning dual-stage license) or university (before 2007) *Bologna: three-year course in a university or polytechnic. Lincenciatura is now an ordinary degree and no longer an honours degree. ''Pós-Graduação'' or ''Especialização '' (
Postgraduate Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate ( bachelor's) degree. The organization and ...
degree) – no specific title *Usually one year of specific study for holders of a ''Licenciatura'' or ''Mestrado''. ''Mestrado'' (
Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.
) – title: ''Mestre'' *Non-Bologna: advanced degree in a specific scientific field, indicating capacity for conducting practical research. Courses last two to four semesters, including lectures and the preparation and discussion of an original dissertation. It is only open to those who have obtained a grade average of 14/20 or higher in the ''Licenciatura'' course. Those with less than 14/20 may also be eligible for a ''Mestrado'' course after analysis of the curriculum by the university. *Bologna: ''Licenciatura'' complemented with one or two extra years in a polytechnic or university; or, in some cases, a 5- to 6-year joint degree (''Mestrado Integrado'') in a university. Students have to present their public thesis defense in order to be awarded the degree. ''Doutorado'' (
Doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...
) – used in front of holder's name: ''Doutor'' *The ''Doutorado'' is conferred by universities to those who have passed the Doctorate examinations and have defended a thesis, usually to pursue a teaching and researching career at university level. There is no fixed period to prepare for the Doctorate examinations. Candidates must hold a degree of ''Mestrado'' or ''Licenciatura'' (or a legally equivalent qualification) and have competences and merit that are recognized by the university. ''Agregação'' (
Agrégation In France, the ''agrégation'' () is a competitive examination for civil service in the French public education system. Candidates for the examination, or ''agrégatifs'', become ''agrégés'' once they are admitted to the position of ''profe ...
) – used in front of holder's name: ''Professor Doutor'' *This is the highest qualification reserved to holders of the ''Doutor'' degree. It requires the capacity to undertake high level research and special pedagogical competence in a specific field. It is awarded after passing specific examinations.


Accreditation

The ''Agência de Avaliação e Acreditação do Ensino Superior'' (Higher Education Accreditation and Evaluation Agency) was created in the late 2000s and started to work in the early 2010s. In 2012, its first thorough accreditation and evaluation report concluded that 25% (or 107) of 420 (out of 3500) bachelor's, master's and doctorate degree programs offered in Portugal, did not comply with elemental quality and academic integrity standards and should be terminated.Cursos chumbados pela Agência de Avaliação e Acreditação vão fechar
RTP (3 November 2012)
Besides the state-run accreditation agency, many professional associations of some of the regulated professions have run their own
accreditation Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...
systems – they are known as ''Ordens'' (these include several ''Ordens'', some much larger, reputed and older than others, like the '' Ordem dos Engenheiros''; '' Ordem dos Advogados''; '' Ordem dos Farmacêuticos''; '' Ordem dos Enfermeiros''; '' Ordem dos Arquitectos''; '' Ordem dos Médicos''; '' Ordem dos Biólogos''; '' Ordem dos Economistas''; '' Ordem dos Revisores Oficiais de Contas''; etc.). In general, registration with such associations is a requisite for the legal practice of the profession and it normally requires an admission examination. In some orders (e.g. '' Ordem dos Engenheiros'' for the exercise of engineering profession), the accreditation process exemptes candidates, possessing an accredited degree, of such examination. But some orders, as well as some other professional associations, only allow candidates possessing an accredited course to be admitted to examination but do not exempt them from this examination due to the large number of institutions offering degrees in the concerned field with very different teaching standards and curricula (e.g. ''Ordem dos Advogados'' for lawyers and the '' Ordem dos Técnicos Oficiais de Contas'' for accountants).


History

During many years (at least during most of the 20th century to the 2000s), a graduate in Portugal used to have a compulsory 4 to 5-year course (an exception included medicine, with a 6 years course) known as ''licenciatura'' which was granted exclusively by
universities A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United State ...
. Only graduates having the ''licenciatura'' diploma exclusively conferred by the universities were fully able to develop professional activity in their respective field (like engineering, or secondary school teaching) and were universally recognized and regulated by its ''Ordem'' (the highest professional association authority) and/or the State. Other higher education courses offering a 3-year ''bacharelato'' degree that the newly created polytechnic institutes started to award in the 1970s and 1980s, like the
technical engineering An engineering technician is a professional trained in skills and techniques related to a specific branch of technology, with a practical understanding of the relevant engineering concepts. Engineering technicians often assist engineers and ...
courses, the accounting technician courses, or the basic education teaching courses, had its own regulation scheme and were not recognized by the respective ''Ordens Profissionais'' in the field or by the State to perform the same professional activities university's ''licenciados'' were habilitated for (for instance, technical engineers did not belong to the ''Ordem'' of engineers and were awarded a limited range of engineering projects, and most teachers with the polytechnic degrees were not able to teach school students after the 6th grade). In 1999, over 15,000 students enrolled in Portuguese higher learning institutions and newly graduates in the fields of engineering and architecture, were enrolled or were awarded a degree in a non-accredited course. Those students and graduates with no official recognition were not admitted to any ''Ordem'' and were unable to sign projects in their presumed field of expertise. At the same time, only one accredited engineering course was offered by a private university, and over 90% of the accredited courses with recognition in the fields of engineering, architecture, and law were provided by state-run universities. The ''Agência de Avaliação e Acreditação do Ensino Superior (A3ES)'' (Higher Education Accreditation and Evaluation Agency) was created in the late 2000s and started to work in the early 2010s. In 2012, its first thorough accreditation and evaluation report to date concluded that 25% (or 107) of 420 (out of 3500) bachelor's, master's and doctorate degree programs offered in Portugal, did not comply with elemental quality and academic integrity standards and should be terminated. In the 1990s, the offer of many new degrees in Portugal became widespread across the entire country through both public and private university and polytechnic institutions. By 2010, lower selectiviness and academic integrity levels, including in some schools previously known for its reputation and prestige, debased the average teaching level in Portugal according to the head of the Portuguese Bar Association ''(Ordem dos Advogados)'' Marinho Pinto.Estágio: Bastonário diz que Ordem vai recorrer de decisão de tribunal administrativo
''""Bater-me-ei com todas as minhas forças contra o facilitismo e bater-me-ei pela dignificação desta profissão. Queremos escolher os melhores e não os maus licenciados que tiram os cursos quase por correspondência ou porque pagam propinas", garantiu na ocasião."''
"Universidades abandalharam ensino do direito"
,
Diário de Notícias ''Diário de Notícias'' () is a Portuguese daily newspaper published in Lisbon, Portugal. Established since 1864, the paper is considered a newspaper of record for Portugal. History and profile ''Diário de Notícias'' was first published in ...
(9 April 2012)


Today's situation

Currently, after many major reforms and changes in higher education started in 1998 which originated a process that spans across the 2000s, the formal differences between polytechnic and
university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...
''licenciatura'' degrees are in general null and they have an equivalent denomination and course duration, and due to the Bologna process both graduates should be recognized equally all across Europe. Among the oldest recognized and most extensively accredited courses in Portugal, are those university degrees awarded by the state-run universities. After the large 1998 – 2000s reforms and upgrades, many polytechnic ''licenciatura'' degrees started to be offered by the largest state-run polytechnic institutes, like those in the cities of Lisbon and Porto, have been awarded in the same way with wide official recognition by the concerned ''Ordens Profissionais'' and the State.


Admission

Admission to higher education level studies requires either a secondary school credential, ''Diploma de Ensino Secundário'', given after twelve study years, allowing the student to be examined through the ''Provas de ingresso'' (admission exams), or an extraordinary exam process available to anyone aged 23 or older. Every higher education institution has also a number of other extraordinary admission processes for sportsmen, international students, foreign students from the Lusosphere, degree owners from other institutions, students from other institutions ( academic transfer), former students (readmission), which are subject to specific standards and regulations set by each institution or course department.


With secondary school credential

Students must have studied the subjects for which they are entering to be prepared for the entrance exams, but they are not required to have previously specialised in any specific area at the secondary school. Students sit for one or more entrance exams, ''Concurso nacional'' for public institutions or ''Concurso institucional'' for private institutions. In addition to passing entrance exams, students must fulfill particular prerequisites for some courses. Enrollment is limited; each year the institution establishes the number of places available ('' numerus clausus''). The exam scores count for the final evaluation, which includes the secondary school average marks. Then the students have to choose six institutions/courses they prefer to attend, in preferential order. The ones who reach the marks needed to attend the desired institution/course, given the number of vacancies, will be admitted. This means that the students could not be admitted at its first or second choice, but be admitted at the third or even sixth choice. In some cases, those entering polytechnic institutes with previous vocational training will receive institutional preference.


Admissions table

Portuguese ordinary admissions are based in a competitive system of '' numerus clausus'', different programmes have different exams needed for admission which may vary from one institution to another.


2008 admissions

2008 table of new alumni by institution in state-run universities and polytechnics, excluding international students and extraordinary admissions.


Extraordinary exam process

After the approval of decree law ''Decreto-Lei 64/2006, de 21 de Março'' in 2006, even without a complete secondary school education, anyone 23 or older can apply to state-run higher learning institution through the ''Exame Extraordinário de Avaliação de Capacidade para Acesso ao Ensino Superior'' (extraordinary exam to assess the capacity to enter higher-level studies), also called the ''Ad-Hoc'' exam. Over 23 years old applicants are considered mature applicants and may be admitted without meeting the
ENES Enes () is a Turkish male given name. People named Enes include: * Enes Batur (born 1998), the first Turkish YouTuber to reach 10 million subscribers * Enes Bešić (born 1963), Bosnian footballer * Enes Demirović (born 1972), Bosnian football ...
examination requirement. In these cases, application is considered on the basis of one's educational background and work and life experience will be fully taken into account, as well as an interview. The process consists of the general Portuguese exam, an interview to evaluate motivation and CV, and additional written and/or oral exams specific to each school and course. Candidates approved go through a separate ''numerus clausus'' or enroll directly at the discretion of the school's board. As what happens with the ''Concurso Nacional'' through the Exames Nacionais do Ensino Secundário (ENES), the Extraordinary Exam Process for over-23 years old candidates is more demanding and has a much higher selectiveness in public universities than in the public polytechnics. Humanities and other non-mathematical-intensive fields have also much higher admission rates than classical university engineerings, economics or medicine. This implies that almost all new students admitted by this extraordinary process enter a polytechnic institution, private institution, or
humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at t ...
programmes.


Inequalities

Most public university courses often demand much higher admission marks than most similar courses at the polytechnic institutes or private institutions. This has been a major statistical fact among the higher education subsystems in Portugal. However, it is not possible today to characterize precisely a course's quality level by its higher education subsystem (polytechnic or university) because some polytechnical courses demand high grades and have a better reputation and popularity than in the past, after many years of reforms and reorganization in the polytechnical subsystem. But in general, the majority of the most highly regarded degrees, noted for their selectiveness and popularity, are provided by some institutions of the university system, with many of the polytechnic system's institutions being often regarded as a second choice alternative to the major universities for a number of students. There was a historic connotation that polytechnical institutes were often considered the schools of last resort, because of their general low selectiveness (which was clearly substandard from the 1980s to the mid-2000s), lack of historical notability, and diminute number of highly distinguished alumni and professors, which some feel hurts their reputation. In parallel with the Bologna reform, two major regulatory initiatives have been implemented from the academic year 2005/06, namely: access rules have enforced minimum grades of 95/200 in the national access examinations for all candidates in every sector of higher education; and a minimum number of 10 students per degree programme has been required for public funding, with this limit to increase to 20 students in 2006/07. The measures provoked great alarm and concern among the polytechnical institutions who criticised the more rigorous requirements as "bad and elitist". However, specific field entrance exams that are required for admission to many institutions are notorious for their inconsistencies, with courses which for instance may traditionally require mathematics, physics or chemistry entrance exams, allowing non-related entrance exams to catch a large number of underachieving applicants who otherwise would not be admitted, and do not have a place at more selective institutions in the same field. For the other side, higher grades inside the higher education institutions were more frequent for those students of private, public polytechnic and some public university courses that were globally the worst pre-higher education applicants. This implied a long-lasting reputation of lower teaching standards and easier entrance requirements in many public polytechnic and private institutions, as well as in some public university departments, which seemed rather relaxed. A number of scandals, suspicions and affairs involving private higher education institutions (for example, major private universities like '' Universidade Moderna'' (1998), '' Universidade Independente'' (2007) and '' Universidade Internacional'' (2007), among others), and a general perception of many of those institutions as having a tendentially relaxed teaching style with less rigorous criteria, have contributed to their poor reputation which originated a state-run inspection of private higher education institutions in 2007. Many institutions did not provide degree programs of academic integrity comparable to those of traditional universities. Like in any other country in the world, this appears to be an injustice for thousands of others students admitted to more rigorous and selective institutions that will face the same competition in the labour market, where the graduation marks are often decisive. This has allowed other inequalities such as the future impossibility of obtaining a masters or doctoral degree for students with lower marks (usually less than 14, out of 20 for master's degree, or 16 out of 20 for doctorate), and the higher average completion time for graduation and subsequent entrance into the labour market, with different standards in so many heterogeneous institutions. In the 2000s, there was a growing effort to define nonaccredited universities or accredited institutions which awarded nonaccredited degrees, as
diploma mill A diploma mill (also known as a degree mill) is a company or organization that claims to be a higher education institution but provides illegitimate academic degrees and diplomas for a fee. The degrees can be fabricated (made-up), falsified (fake ...
s, in order to raise awareness about the problem. In 2007, the State had planned to enforce in a near future more stringent rules for all kind of public and private degree-conferring institutions. Currently, after changes introduced by the Bologna process,
master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.
programmes can be offered to any student who had completed the first study cycle (''licenciatura'') and enroll in the second study cycle (''mestrado''). For instance,
medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pr ...
is traditionally one of the most popular courses in Portugal, and therefore one of the most selective, with some of the highest rated secondary school top students competing with the best of the best for a place in a medicine course. Normally, a student who wants to attend the Medical School (''Faculdade de Medicina'') at one of the Portuguese public universities which exclusively offer this graduation course, has to get very high grades in the entrance exams (it may include exams in fields like chemistry, biology, and mathematics) and to have done an almost-brilliant secondary school course. Admission marks of the applicants admitted in medicine, are never less than 180 out of 200.
Architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings ...
,
economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics anal ...
, a number of
engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...
s,
dentistry Dentistry, also known as dental medicine and oral medicine, is the branch of medicine focused on the teeth, gums, and mouth. It consists of the study, diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases, disorders, and conditions of ...
,
law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
,
pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medication, medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it ...
, or
veterinary medicine Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in animals. Along with this, it deals with animal rearing, husbandry, breeding, research on nutri ...
at most public universities, are, in general, another examples of courses which are traditionally the most selective or popular. In contrast with these, like in any other educational system in the world, there are many courses offered by private universities, polytechnic institutes, and public universities, where the entrance requirements are sharply below the average. There are also some courses with low or even no demand and condemned to be extinguished. In the 1990s, the offer of law degrees in Portugal became widespread across the entire country through both public and private university institutions. By 2010, lower selectiviness and academic integrity levels, including in law schools previously known for its reputation and prestige, debased the average teaching of law in Portugal according to the head of the Ordem dos Advogados Marinho Pinto.


Employability and underemployment


Employability

In Portugal, about 15% of the people with a degree are unemployed, and a larger proportion are underemployed. In 2008, the number of degree owners registered in the national network of job centers reached 60,000 (a registered
graduate unemployment Graduate unemployment, or educated unemployment, is unemployment among people with an academic degree. Background Research undertaken proved that unemployment and underemployment of graduates are devastating phenomena in their lives. A high inc ...
rate of nearly 8%).Licenciados desempregados mais do que duplicaram desde 2002
Diário Digital (19 February 2008)
After students graduate from a higher education institution, factors like the field of studies, the grade point average and the prestige of the teaching institution, are relatively important for getting a job. But most important is the current employment market. Due to these factors, higher education courses with a higher employability rate include
medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pr ...
(there is a very high demand for
medical doctor A physician (American English), medical practitioner (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, mai ...
s across the whole country), some classic
engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...
specializations, and
computer sciences Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to practical disciplines (including ...
. Low employability is found among
teaching Teaching is the practice implemented by a ''teacher'' aimed at transmitting skills (knowledge, know-how, and interpersonal skills) to a learner, a student, or any other audience in the context of an educational institution. Teaching is closely ...
,
humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at t ...
and some
social sciences Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of so ...
fields of study, like
history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
,
geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, an ...
,
linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Ling ...
,
philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. ...
,
sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...
; or to a lesser degree among the
exact sciences The exact sciences, sometimes called the exact mathematical sciences, are those sciences "which admit of absolute precision in their results"; especially the mathematical sciences. Examples of the exact sciences are mathematics, optics, astron ...
and
natural science Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...
s, such as
mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
,
physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which ...
,
chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the elements that make up matter to the compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions: their composition, structure, proper ...
,
biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary ...
or
geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other Astronomical object, astronomical objects, the features or rock (geology), rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology ...
, when these courses are oriented towards a teaching career instead of a more technical or scientific research career. Despite their generally high reputation,
economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics anal ...
,
law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
and
architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings ...
degrees, even from some of the most selective and prestigious schools, have had an increasingly low employability rate due to an excessive number of new graduates each year. There are courses which used to have high or very high employability rates (at least during the 1990s) and currently are among the most precarious in terms of employment for new graduates. These include
business administration Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...
,
management Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activitie ...
,
nursing Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health ...
and some health technician courses. The reduction of (a traditionally high) State expenditure allocated to job creation inside the
public sector The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, inf ...
of the Portuguese economy since 2002–2003, in addition to the boom of the number of places offered to new students in those fields by an increasing number of private and public teaching institutions, disrupted
supply and demand In microeconomics, supply and demand is an economic model of price determination in a Market (economics), market. It postulates that, Ceteris paribus, holding all else equal, in a perfect competition, competitive market, the unit price for a ...
equilibrium. Higher wages and better job conditions are usually offered by companies to the best fresh graduates of a number of highly reputed universities. Most Portuguese
civil servants The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...
usually have better-than-average pay and benefits regardless of their personal educational quality. An article was published by the Expresso dated 2004 which listed the most desirable graduates of universities and polytechnics by Portuguese companies in the fields of
engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...
,
structural engineering Structural engineering is a sub-discipline of civil engineering in which structural engineers are trained to design the 'bones and muscles' that create the form and shape of man-made structures. Structural engineers also must understand and cal ...
,
marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...
,
management Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activitie ...
,
economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics anal ...
and
finance Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of f ...
. This non-scientific report used a survey made by some
human resources Human resources (HR) is the set of people who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector, industry, or economy. A narrower concept is human capital, the knowledge and skills which the individuals command. Similar terms includ ...
recruiting firms, which means that the population surveyed comprised only the candidates who were seeking a job through those recruiting firms, and excluded the highly qualified candidates who were recruited directly by the companies, by other important recruiting firms, or were recruited by headhunters before graduation. Additionally, some graduates are recruited from local higher learning institutions through partnerships with local companies or other institutions, bypassing full and open competition.
World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...
research on human capital flight by country, reported in 2005 a rate of 20% of Portuguese graduates leaving the country for working abroad, one of the largest rates for countries with over 5 million inhabitants.


Underemployment

Underemployment Underemployment is the underuse of a worker because a job does not use the worker's skills, is part-time, or leaves the worker idle. Examples include holding a part-time job despite desiring full-time work, and overqualification, in which the ...
among fresh and senior graduates has increased since the early 1990s. Among the degree owners with the highest rates of underemployment are those who earned degrees in teaching, psychology, philosophy, economics, business administration, management,
technical accounting Bookkeeping is the recording of financial transactions, and is part of the process of accounting in business and other organizations. It involves preparing source documents for all transactions, operations, and other events of a business. Tr ...
, sociology, short-cycle engineering (
technical engineering An engineering technician is a professional trained in skills and techniques related to a specific branch of technology, with a practical understanding of the relevant engineering concepts. Engineering technicians often assist engineers and ...
), some non-traditional engineerings, law, journalism, languages, history, and related fields of study. Several thousand people in this situation, have part-time or
full-time Full-time or Full Time may refer to: * Full-time job, employment in which a person works a minimum number of hours defined as such by their employer * Full-time mother, a woman whose work is running or managing her family's home * Full-time fa ...
occupations in a range of unspecialized jobs for unskilled or marginally skilled workers.


Rankings

The results and rankings of multi-criteria evaluation on higher education institutions may be controversial and are not definitive proof of the higher standard of one institution over the others. However, ranking-based evaluation could be useful to point out certain characteristics or trends of a given institution, like notability and growth, both nationwide and internationally.


Official state-managed ranking

The Portuguese ''Agência de Acreditação'' (state-managed Accreditation Agency) for higher education, and formally founded in 2007, will be responsible for the publication of the national ranking of higher education institutions and degrees.


The Times Higher Education Supplement

In 2007, according to The Times Higher Education Supplement (2007 QS World University Rankings, by QS – Quacquarelli Symonds), the University of Coimbra is ranked number 3 among the universities in the
Portuguese-speaking countries The Community of Portuguese Language Countries ( Portuguese: ''Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa''; abbreviated as the CPLP), also known as the Lusophone Commonwealth (''Comunidade Lusófona''), is an international organization and pol ...
(behind the
University of São Paulo The University of São Paulo ( pt, Universidade de São Paulo, USP) is a public university in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. It is the largest Brazilian public university and the country's most prestigious educational institution, the bes ...
and the University of Campinas), and ranked 318 in the overall world rank. In 2006, according to The Times Higher Education Supplement (2006 QS World University Rankings, by QS – Quacquarelli Symonds), the
University of Coimbra The University of Coimbra (UC; pt, Universidade de Coimbra, ) is a public research university in Coimbra, Portugal. First established in Lisbon in 1290, it went through a number of relocations until moving permanently to Coimbra in 1537. The u ...
is ranked number 1 university in the
Portuguese-speaking countries The Community of Portuguese Language Countries ( Portuguese: ''Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa''; abbreviated as the CPLP), also known as the Lusophone Commonwealth (''Comunidade Lusófona''), is an international organization and pol ...
, and ranked 266 in the overall world rank.


Higher Education Evaluation and Accreditation Council of Taiwan

In 2008, a Higher Education Evaluation and Accreditation Council of Taiwan's ranking placed the University of Porto in the first position among the Portuguese universities by research output. The ''Ranking Iberoamericano de Instituciones de Investigación'' have placed the University of Porto in the 11th place by research output in Iberoamerican countries (Portugal, Spain, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela), and first in Portugal. In 2007, a Higher Education Evaluation and Accreditation Council of Taiwan's ranking, placed the University of Porto in 459. It was the only Portuguese university in the top 500 according to the Taiwanese ranking.


Webometrics

Portuguese higher education institutions
webometrics The science of webometrics (also cybermetrics) tries to measure the World Wide Web to get knowledge about the number and types of hyperlinks, structure of the World Wide Web and using patterns. According to Björneborn and Ingwersen, the definitio ...
ranking, 2015 – Top 20 ranked according to indicators measuring web presence and impact.


Research at institutions of higher learning

Academic research in 2003 represented about 50% of total expenditure in R&D (including expenditure by higher education and related non-profit institutions). Total expenditure (public and private) in R&D was 0.78% of the GDP, which had reached 0.85% in 2001, when the European average was 1.98% for the then-15 EU member-states. Overall, higher education and related non-profit institutions represented in 2003 about 74% of Portuguese researchers, with a total value of 24.726 researchers (i.e., head counts), representing 13.008 FTE researchers. In December 2004, higher education institutions included 11.316 teaching-staff members holding a PhD degree. In 2001 Portugal was, for the first time in history, one of the countries of excellence that contributed to the top 1% of the world's highly cited publications. Spain was responsible for 2.08%, while Ireland and Greece accounted for 0.36% and 0.3%, respectively. Within the higher education system, only university institutions carry out fundamental research. *Research centers belonging to higher learning institutions accredited by ''FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia'', 2004 Source: ''FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia'


International partnership agreements

International partnership programmes and international conventions or agreements in higher education include: *Portugal is a signatory of the Bologna process and therefore belongs to the European Higher Education Area. (see Higher education in Portugal#European Higher Education Area) *Portugal is an active member of
Socrates programme The SOCRATES programme was an educational initiative of the European Commission; 31 countries took part. The initial Socrates programme ran from 1994 until 31 December 1999 when it was replaced by the Socrates II programme on 24 January 2000, whic ...
and Erasmus programme exchange scheme. *''Programa MIT-Portugal'' (se
MIT-Portugal official site
: is a partnership in
graduate education Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor's) degree. The organization and st ...
and
research Research is "creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness ...
in advanced
systems engineering Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary field of engineering and engineering management that focuses on how to design, integrate, and manage complex systems over their life cycles. At its core, systems engineering utilizes systems thinki ...
,
bioengineering Biological engineering or bioengineering is the application of principles of biology and the tools of engineering to create usable, tangible, economically-viable products. Biological engineering employs knowledge and expertise from a number o ...
, energy and transportation systems, and also in
management Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activitie ...
, involving the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of th ...
(U.S.A.), Portuguese universities, other research institutions, and companies.
Mariano Gago José Mariano Rebelo Pires Gago, ComSE (16 May, 1948 – 17 April, 2015), commonly referred to as Mariano Gago, was a Portuguese physicist and politician, mostly known for his tenures as Minister for Science and Higher Education. He held governme ...
the Portuguese Minister of Science Technology and Higher Education said, in his perspective, about MIT-Portugal programme: "The worst (higher education institutions) should learn and the best should be ready to face the challenges". The institutions in this programme include: the '' Instituto Superior de Ciências do Trabalho e da Empresa'' (only in management), Minho University, New University of Lisbon, Catholic University of Portugal (only in management), Technical University of Lisbon,
University of Coimbra The University of Coimbra (UC; pt, Universidade de Coimbra, ) is a public research university in Coimbra, Portugal. First established in Lisbon in 1290, it went through a number of relocations until moving permanently to Coimbra in 1537. The u ...
, and the University of Porto. The program includes companies like
Volkswagen Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German Automotive industry, motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a ...
's AutoEuropa, Amorim, and Simoldes, among others. The project is financed by the
Government of Portugal , border = Central , image = , caption = , date = , state = Portuguese Republic , address = Official Residence of the Prime Minister Estrela, Lisbon , appointed = President ...
and participants were selected by the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education based on multicriteria MIT's evaluation of the Portuguese institutions. *''Programa CMU-Portugal'' (se
CMU-Portugal official site
: is a partnership in
information technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology syste ...
and
communication Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inqui ...
s, part of the national policy for the hi-tech boom, involving the
Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...
(U.S.A.) and several Portuguese institutions including companies, such as Portugal Telecom,
Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad. The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', ''E ...
, Novabase and Critical Software, the eight faculties and colleges that integrate various research centres involved in the CMU-Portugal Program: Faculty of Sciences of
Lisbon University The University of Lisbon (ULisboa; pt, Universidade de Lisboa, ) is a public research university in Lisbon, and the largest university in Portugal. It was founded in 2013, from the merger of two previous public universities located in Lisbon, th ...
, School of Engineering of Minho University, Faculty of Sciences and Technology of the New University of Lisbon, Faculty of Sciences and Technology of the
University of Coimbra The University of Coimbra (UC; pt, Universidade de Coimbra, ) is a public research university in Coimbra, Portugal. First established in Lisbon in 1290, it went through a number of relocations until moving permanently to Coimbra in 1537. The u ...
, Faculty of Economical and Enterprise Sciences of the Catholic University of Portugal, Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto, ''
Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto Polytechnic of Porto - School of Engineering (ISEP) is a public polytechnic higher learning and research engineering institute, located in the city of Porto, Portugal. ISEP is divided in 8 departments, with an emphasis on applied science and tech ...
'' ( IPP), and '' Instituto Superior Técnico'' ( UTL). It also includes several other higher education institutions, such as the universities of Aveiro,
Beira Interior Beira () was one of the six traditional provinces or ''comarcas'' of Portugal. The territorial extension is different from that of the area called ''the Beiras'', which refers to three provinces of 1936, Beira Alta, Beira Baixa and Beira Lit ...
and
Algarve The Algarve (, , ; from ) is the southernmost NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities ( ''concelhos'' or ''municípios'' in Portuguese). The region has it ...
. This project will be financed by the national government and major hi-tech companies. *''Programa UTAustin-Portugal'' (se
UTAustin-Portugal official site
: is a partnership in
graduate education Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor's) degree. The organization and st ...
and
research Research is "creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness ...
involving the
University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
(U.S.A.), several Portuguese universities, other research institutions and companies, including: the ''Instituto de Engenharia de Sistemas e Computadores do Porto'', ''Instituto de Medicina Molecular'', '' Instituto Pedro Nunes'', University of Porto, New University of Lisbon, University of Aveiro,
University of Coimbra The University of Coimbra (UC; pt, Universidade de Coimbra, ) is a public research university in Coimbra, Portugal. First established in Lisbon in 1290, it went through a number of relocations until moving permanently to Coimbra in 1537. The u ...
,
University of Lisbon The University of Lisbon (ULisboa; pt, Universidade de Lisboa, ) is a public research university in Lisbon, and the largest university in Portugal. It was founded in 2013, from the merger of two previous public universities located in Lisbon, th ...
, '' Instituto Superior de Ciências do Trabalho e da Empresa'', and the '' Instituto Superior Técnico'' of the Technical University of Lisbon. *Portuguese higher education students may be eligible to benefit from agreements with a number of other noted foreign universities and research organizations like the
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...
, the
European Space Agency , owners = , headquarters = Paris, Île-de-France, France , coordinates = , spaceport = Guiana Space Centre , seal = File:ESA emblem seal.png , seal_size = 130px , image = Views in the Main Control Room (120 ...
(ESA), the
European Laboratory for Particle Physics The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN (; ; ), is an intergovernmental organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Established in 1954, it is based in a northwestern suburb of G ...
(CERN), the
ITER ITER (initially the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, ''iter'' meaning "the way" or "the path" in Latin) is an international nuclear fusion research and engineering megaproject aimed at creating energy by replicating, on Ear ...
, and the
European Southern Observatory The European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere, commonly referred to as the European Southern Observatory (ESO), is an intergovernmental research organisation made up of 16 member states for ground-based ast ...
(ESO). *The Lisbon MBA, an International MBA program offered in tie up of two leading Portuguese universities (UNL and UCP) in collaboration with the
MIT Sloan School of Management The MIT Sloan School of Management (MIT Sloan or Sloan) is the business school of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT Sloan offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree programs ...
gained lot of attention among the international students and received positive feedback. *Harvard Medical School-Portugal, a program that facilitates new translational and clinical research, and will launch and streamline post-graduate medical training, and produce and publish quality medical and health information in Portugal.


See also

* Academic ranks in Portugal * Education in Portugal *
Higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after compl ...
*
List of colleges and universities in Portugal This list of universities and colleges in Portugal gives the Portuguese institutions providing higher education. Higher education in Portugal is organized into two systems: university and polytechnic. There are public and private higher educa ...
*
Science and technology in Portugal Science and technology in Portugal is mainly conducted within a network of research and development (R&D) units belonging to public universities and state-managed autonomous research institutions. There are also non-state-run research institutio ...


References


Bibliography

* Guy Neave and Alberto Amaral (eds), ''Higher Education in Portugal 1974-2009: A Nation, a Generation'' (Heidelberg, Springer, 2012).


Other resources


Quality Assurance of Higher Education in Portugal – An Assessment of the Existing System and Recommendations for a Future System
Report by an ENQA (the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education) review panel, November 2006
Tertiary Education in Portugal – Background Report prepared to support the international assessment of the Portuguese system of tertiary education, Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education, (April 2006)

CHEPS – Higher Education Monitor, Higher Education in Portugal, Ana-Maria Dima, February 2005 Country Report




* ttp://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-10902.html country-data.com Portugal – EDUCATION
Funding higher education in Portugal: between State and market, Educ. Soc. vol.25 no.88 special, Campinas Oct. 2004

Selected Statistics for Portugal, Source: UNESCO, Institute for Statistics

NATIONAL REPORT ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE BOLOGNA PROCESS (AUGUST 2003)

''Contribuição para a discussão pública do documento elaborado pelo Grupo de Trabalho para a reorganização do Ensino Superior'', José Filipe dos Santos Oliveira, Professor at the F.C.T.
– ''
Universidade Nova de Lisboa NOVA University Lisbon ( pt, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, ), or just NOVA, is a Portuguese public university whose rectorate is located in Campolide, Lisbon. Founded in 1973, it is the newest of the public universities in the Portuguese capital ...
'' (in Portuguese)
Engenharia do Séc.XX
(in Portuguese)
JVCosta – Higher Education in Portugal
(in Portuguese)
MIT Portugal Program


External links


''Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior'' (Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Higher Education in Portugal Education in Portugal
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...