The National Distance Education University, known in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

as ''Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia'' (UNED), is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichk ...

research university A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are the most important sites at which knowledge production occurs, along with "intergenerational kn ...

of national scope. The university was founded in 1972 under the Ministry of Universities. It has headquarters in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, with campuses in all

Spanish autonomous communities eu, autonomia erkidegoa ca, comunitat autònoma gl, comunidade autónoma oc, comunautat autonòma an, comunidat autonoma ast, comunidá autónoma , alt_name = , map = , category = Autonomous administra ...

. In addition, there are 14 study centres and 3 exam points in 13 countries in

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 subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

the Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

and

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. The University awards undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, as well as non-degree qualifications such as diplomas and certificates, or continuing education units. Focused on

distance learning 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 ...

combined with traditional classroom instruction (called hybrid or blended). With over 150.000 students, UNED is the largest university in Spain and the second largest in Europe.

Origins and methodology

Founded in 1972 with the stated purpose of providing education opportunities via a distance education system - in which students are taught while not being physically present - UNED awards the same qualifications as other

Spanish universities There are 76 universities in Spain, most of which are supported by state funding. 24 Spanish universities are private, of which 7 are affiliated with the Catholic Church. Former degrees were: *''Licenciatura'' or ''ingeniería'', can last four, fi ...

and has the same entry requirements.

International presence

UNED currently has 61 study centres in Spain and - with the co-operation of local institutions - 14 international centres. These locations provide face-to-face sessions with professors once a week. The international centres are located in Bata, Bern,

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, Caracas,

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, Malabo,

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

and

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

. Additionally, there are exam points in Bogotá,

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

, New York,

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and

Santiago de Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

Affiliation

In 2012 the Spanish newspaper El País featured an article about the launch of UNX, an online platform for teaching entrepreneurship through building mobile apps with App Inventor. UNED is a collaborating partner in this project, along with 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 the ...

Center for Mobile Learning. The UNX online courses are intended to bring technology and entrepreneurship education about to the entire Spanish-speaking world.

Academic profile

A number of factors have been cited to justify the public prestige of UNED: * All of UNED exams are supervised * Exams must encompass the entirety of the program * Students are objectively graded based on a strictly uniform test * Distance learning requires additional self-teaching effort and discipline, highly regarded by employers * Students from UNED are more likely to continue their education and research after graduation day, applying the self-teaching methodologies learned during their studies In the last 30 years, UNED has awarded almost 2,000 PhD degrees. Its international reputation is indicated in that it has held the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

chair in distance education since 1997. This chair promotes research, development and documentation in the field of distance education.

Organisation

Undergraduate

Today, UNED comprises 11 faculties and the following bachelor's degree studies: *

Higher Technical School of Computer Engineering at UNED The Higher School of Computer Engineering at UNED (, National University of Distance Education) is an institute of higher education in Spain, with an extensive network of collaborating institutions, that teaches and issues degrees in Computer Sci ...

: Bachelor's Degree in Computer Engineering, Bachelor's Degree in Engineering Information Technology * College of Industrial Engineering: Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering, Bachelor's Degree in Industrial Technologies Engineering, Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering, Bachelor's Degree in Engineering in Industrial Electronics and Automation * Faculty of Sciences: Bachelor's Degree in Environmental Science, Bachelor's Degree in Physics, Bachelor's Degree in Mathematics, Bachelor's Degree in Chemistry * Faculty of Economics and Business Administration: Bachelor's Degree in Economics, Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration and Management, Bachelor's Degree in Tourism * Faculty of Political Science and Sociology: Bachelor's Degree in Sociology, Bachelor's Degree in Political Science & Public Administration * Faculty of Law: Bachelor's Degree in Law, Bachelor's Degree in Social Work, Bachelor's Degree in Juridical Science of Public Administration * Faculty of Education: Bachelor's Degree in Social Education, Bachelor's Degree in Pedagogy * Faculty of Philology: Bachelor's Degree in Spanish Language and Literature, Bachelor's Degree in English Studies: Language, Literature and Culture * Faculty of Philosophy: Bachelor's Degree in Philosophy, Bachelor's Degree in Social and Cultural Anthropology * Faculty of Geography and History: Bachelor's Degree in Geography and History, Bachelor's Degree in Art History * Faculty of Psychology: Bachelor's Degree in Psychology

Postgraduate

: Computer Systems and Languages, Advanced Artificial Intelligence: Principles, Methods and Applications, Communication, Networks and Content Management, Systems and Control Engineering * College of Industrial Engineering: Research in Industrial Technology, Research in Electrical, Electronic and Industrial Control Engineering, Advanced Manufacturing Engineering, Design Engineering * Faculty of Sciences: Chemical Science and Technology, Polymer Science and Technology, Advanced Mathematics, Medical Physics, Physics of Complex Systems * Faculty of Economics and Business Administration: Corporate Sustainability and Social, Responsibility * Faculty of Political Science and Sociology, Social Problems, Politics and Democracy, * Faculty of Law: Government Intervention in Society, European Union, Fundamental Rights, Security, Insurance Law, Human Rights, Public Management, Public Finance, Public Policy and Taxation * Faculty of Education Educational Treatment of Diversity, Communication and Education on the Internet: From the Information Society to the Knowledge Society, Innovation and Research in Education, Training of E.S.O., Bachillerato, F.P. and Language Secondary Teachers, Strategies and Technologies for the Teaching Function in the Multicultural Society * Faculty of Philology English Literature and Culture and their Social Impact, Literary and Theatre Training and Research in the European Context, The Classical World and its Influence on Western Culture, Applied English Linguistics, Hispanic Literatures (Catalan, Galician and Basque) in the European Context, Language Science and Hispanic Linguistics, Grammatical and Stylistic Analysis of Spanish, Dictionary Development and Quality Control of the Spanish Lexicon, French and Francophone Studies, Information Technologies and Communication in Language Education and Processing * Faculty of Philosophy :Theoretical and Practical Philosophy * Faculty of Geography and History : Advanced Methods and Techniques of Historical, Artistic and Geographic Research, Contemporary Spain in the International Context * Faculty of Psychology :Methodology of Behavioral Sciences and Health, Research in Psychology, Psychological Intervention in Development and Education

People

Notable current and former academics

* Ana María Vázquez Hoys *

José Mira Mira José Mira Mira (December 31, 1944 – August 13, 2008) Spanish scientist, Professor of Computational Sciences and Artificial Intelligence and Director of the Artificial Intelligence Department of the Computational Science Engineering's ETS in th ...

* Ramon Sainero * Paco Vidarte *

César Alierta César Alierta Izuel (born May 5, 1945) is a Spanish businessman, who was the chief executive officer and chairman of Telefónica S.A. from July 26, 2000, until replaced by José María Álvarez-Pallete in 2016. He guided the company through a s ...

* Javier Paniagua Fuentes * Juan Manuel Rozas * Vicenç Mateu Zamora * Enrique Fuentes Quintana *

Alfonso Vallejo Alfonso Rodríguez Vallejo (19 August 1943 – 3 December 2021) was a Spanish playwright, poet, Painting, painter and neurologist. He had published 34 plays and 25 poetry books. Vallejo was awarded the Lope de Vega prize in 1976 for his play "E ...

* José María Moreno * Ángel Ballesteros Gallardo * Gustavo Fuertes * Emilio Lledó * Domingo Vega de la Rosa *

Trinidad Jiménez Trinidad Jiménez García-Herrera (: born 4 June 1962) is a Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) politician and was Spain's Foreign Affairs Minister. She is widely considered to be a confidante of former Spanish prime ministers Felipe Gonzál ...

Notable alumni

Nadia Calviño Nadia María Calviño Santamaría (born 3 October 1968) is a Spanish economist and civil servant who serves as First Deputy Prime Minister of Spain since July 2021 and as Minister of Economy since 2018 under prime minister Pedro Sánchez. In 20 ...

* Ramiro Villapadierna *

Christina Ochoa Christina Ochoa (born Cristina Ochoa Lopez, 25 January 1985 in Barcelona) is a Spanish actress, science communicator, and producer. Early life Ochoa is the grand-niece of 1959 Nobel Prize winner Severo Ochoa,Xavi Valero Vicente Javier 'Xavi' Valero Verchili (born 28 February 1973), is a Spanish former football goalkeeper and current goalkeeping coach for Premier League team West Ham United. Football career Player Valero was born in Castellón de la Plana in the ...

Tomás Marco Tomás Marco Aragón (born 12 September 1942) is a Spanish composer and writer on music. Life and work Marco was born in Madrid where he later studied violin and composition, while at the same time pursuing the study of law (he received his li ...

* Amaia Montero *

David Janer David Janer (born May 5, 1973) is a Spanish actor. Television * ''Laberint d'ombres'' (2000) - Óscar * ''Des del balcó'' (2001) - Ignasi Costa * ''Temps de silenci'' (2001) - Roger * ''Compañeros (TV series), Compañeros'' (2001-2002) - ...

Mónica Naranjo Mónica Naranjo Carrasco (born 23 May 1974) is a Spanish singer widely popular in Spain and Latin America and recognised as one of the most powerful voices of the Spanish and Latin American music scenes. She has performed with singers such as Luc ...

* Maria Verónica Reina, disability activist * Paloma García Ovejero