This is the question we are going to write about on today’s article: Is there an Ivy League of schools in Spain?
Who doesn’t remember Elle Woods on Legally Blonde (Robert Luketic, 2001) struggling in Harvard? Or in a more dramatic situation, Will Hunting (Gus Van Sant, 1997) in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology? Not as a student, but as a member of the cleaning staff instead. And these are just two examples brought to the big screen which describe a whole education system. A system in which social status and wealth are crucial to access the most prestigious colleges in the United States.
We always love to link social and cultural realities (or just any topic, to be honest) to movies, shows or books to introduce our articles. But after this brief introduction, we didn’t forget the question set out in the title:
No, there isn’t any “Ivy League” of schools in Spain.
The higher education system in Spain is (capital letters) WAY different than in the United States. And the fact that Spain doesn’t have an “Ivy League” of schools might be the smallest of the differences between both systems. Let’s see how both systems compare. And as always, comments, thoughts, experiences are always welcome in the comment section at the end of the article.
What is the “Ivy League”?
For those who don’t know what “Ivy League” means, here is a brief explanation: It is a group of 8 private colleges and universities in the northeastern US which have high academic and social status. They are also known as the “Ancient Eight”:
- Harvard University (Massachusetts)
- Yale University (Connecticut)
- Princeton University (New Jersey)
- Columbia University (New York)
- Brown University (Rhode Island)
- Dartmouth College (New Hampshire)
- University of Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania)
- Cornell University (New York)
Ivy League in the cinema
As we pointed out in the introduction, this Ivy League has been one of the main points in many scripts. For instance, do you remember The Social Network? The whole movie takes place in this main scenario: Harvard.
And besides life in these Ivy League schools, movies and shows have also described the anxious process that many students go through before receiving their acceptance letter from the college they have applied for. The Gilmore Girls show got to describe the whole process of Rory, from high school to applying to Yale and then finally been accepted. Also, including the huge family argument regarding what college should Rory attend.
Public colleges in Spain: the highest recognized institutions
We don’t really have an Ivy League of schools in Spain. But public colleges in Spain can be as prestigious (or even more prestigious) than private colleges. For instance, Universidad Complutense de Madrid is a public school which has been recognized as some of the best colleges in Spain. Actually, 4 out of the top 5 schools in Spain ranked by QS University Ranking are public.
So we don’t really have an Ivy League as we said, but what we do have is some of the best public colleges. And what’s even more important: at an affordable cost, so that most people can educate themselves to build the career they have in mind. Or at least, have these key educational tools to find out.
There is also a study published by Forbes recently in which they select the best 20 colleges out of the 88 that there are in Spain. And the result is a combination of public and private colleges (almost 50/50).
The most recognized colleges in Barcelona are also public institutions
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Universitat Pompeu Fabra or Universitat de Barcelona most of the time make it on the lists of best rated colleges in the city. And, guess what, all of them are public colleges. These three colleges have also been included on the QS World University Rankings.
And if you want to know more about how it actually is to study in a college in Spain, coming from the US, we wrote an article about some questions to take into account even before leaving home: Studying in Spain as an American, what to expect?
