What are UPF-specific degree courses?
In addition to its official degrees, Pompeu Fabra University offers courses that lead to other qualifications.
UPF-specific degree courses are aimed at providing adequate and complementary university training to official university courses, which enable acquiring knowledge and skills and lead to UPF qualification.
They enjoy professional recognition thanks to the prestige of the University, the programme content, the teaching staff, and assessments by alumni.
They are more vocational in nature, oriented towards the labour market.
They respond to a demand for specialized training in fields of knowledge that are generally not offered by official degrees.
They are a tool for enhancing one’s curriculum, for professional growth, knowledge refreshment and continuing education.
What is the difference between UPF-specific master’s degrees and postgraduate courses?
Master’s degrees involve studies targeting people who wish to achieve academic or professional specialization in certain areas of knowledge. They entail at least 60 ECTS and the course duration is at least one academic year.
Postgraduate courses entail studies with the same orientation and purpose as master’s degrees, but differ in their teaching load. There are two kinds:
–Postgraduate diplomas: a minimum of 30 ECTS must be taken and they last approximately one semester.
–Postgraduate courses: a minimum of 10 ECTS must be taken and they last approximately two or three months.
What is the difference between (official) university master’s degrees and UPF-specific master’s degrees?
(Official) master’s degree studies include specialized or multidisciplinary advanced training, aimed at academic or professional specialization or are an initiation into research activities. They give access to doctoral studies.
Official master’s degrees are valid throughout Spain and at all of the universities that belong to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). Official master’s degrees are subject to external evaluation processes and are included in the Register of Universities, Centres and Degrees (RUCT).
UPF-specific master’s degrees have an eminently practical approach, oriented towards the labour market.
They offer specialized training in areas that are generally not taken into account in official degrees.
They are not officially recognized and do not give access to doctoral studies.
The academic content, the teaching staff, and the prestige of each university are what grant professional recognition to university-specific degrees.
UPF guarantees the mechanisms for evaluating the quality of master’s and postgraduate degrees.
What are the access requirements?
For both master’s degrees and postgraduate diplomas and courses, the requirement is to be in possession of an official university degree or equivalent.