UCAM — Universidad Católica de Murcia for International Students

UCAM tuition fees for international students

UCAM publishes fees on program pages without naming the year. The figures below are the current list; fees for the next academic year are not published yet.

Tuition is only part of the first-year bill. On top of it, UCAM charges one-time and yearly fees:

Fees on top of tuition (bachelor's)

• Application fee: €150, non-refundable.
• Pre-registration (preinscripción): €390 for English programs, non-refundable.
• Seat reservation: €1,100 in Murcia and Cartagena, €1,500 in Madrid, €2,000 for medicine and dentistry. It is credited toward your tuition.
• File opening on first enrollment: €450.
• Student insurance: €96.12 per year.
• Master's programs: pre-registration €280 (English) and reservation €1,200.

UCAM does not list merit or country scholarships for international students. Its discounts are family-based (5% or 10%, depending on how many family members study at UCAM) or social, and they cannot be combined. Budget for the full fee.

Programs and the degree you receive

All eight English-taught bachelor's programs are marked by UCAM as official Spanish degrees. UCAM also runs its own non-official "UCAM-specific" diplomas, so always check that your program says "Official".

English-taught master's programs include the MBA, International Relations, High Performance Sport, Hospitality Management, Marketing & Communication, Bilingual Education, EU Studies & Human Rights, Analytical Geoeconomics and two tourism programs. With a bachelor's degree from outside the European Higher Education Area, you can enter an official Spanish master's without homologating your degree. The university itself checks your diploma. See our guide to master's degrees in Spain.

UCAM also offers a one-year English Preparatory Program (A1 to B2, 730 hours, Trinity B2 exam, 20 places, €4,500). It is not a university degree. Talk to us before building a visa plan around it.

Admission requirements for international students

UCAM's English programs ask for a school certificate valid for university access in Spain, English at B2 and a standard document set. For most applicants from outside Europe, the hardest step is recognition of the school certificate.

What to know before you apply

Several details catch UCAM applicants out. Plan for them early.

Honest limitations

• No medicine in English. Medicine is Spanish-only, and admission uses two routes: the Spanish PAU exam with a score of at least 11.00 out of 14, or a transfer from another medical school with at least 30 ECTS recognized. If you want medicine, we compare English-taught options elsewhere.
• Dentistry is not fully in English. Clinical practice is in Spanish, and you need Spanish B2 before year 3. Language courses are included in Cartagena — start Spanish in your first semester anyway.
• Non-EU students pay more for some programs. Medicine costs about €18,900 for non-EU students against €14,200 for EU students; veterinary medicine costs €12,990 against €11,600.
• Fees are largely non-refundable. If you cancel more than 28 days before the start, the application fee, pre-registration and 20% of the reservation are kept. Within 28 days, all three are kept in full. After the program starts, there are no refunds.
• Homologation takes time. Start it as soon as you have final grades. Conditional admission covers you for 1 year only.
• Recognition at home depends on your country. If you plan to practice dentistry or psychology at home, check the local regulator's rules before you enroll.

Rankings and accreditation

We only publish accreditation facts we have checked against official sources. UCAM was established by decree of the Bishop of Cartagena in 1996, and the Region of Murcia authorized its first programs by Decreto 32/1999. The English-taught bachelor's and master's programs are listed by UCAM as official degrees. According to the university, the English Dentistry degree is verified by ANECA, Spain's quality agency, and the Business Administration degree holds ACCA accreditation. We do not quote rankings here because we have not verified a source for them.

Housing and student life

UCAM runs a housing portal, housing.ucam.edu, with residences and shared apartments in Murcia, Cartagena and Madrid. In Murcia, options include Residencial Los Jerónimos next to the main campus, Micampus and GURU. Residences with meals start from around €800 per month in current listings; apartments are cheaper.

The university is known for sport: according to public sources, UCAM athletes won 11 of Spain's 17 medals at the Rio 2016 Olympics.

As a university student in Spain, you may work up to 30 hours a week without a separate permit, as long as work does not interfere with study. Work must be in the region where your permit was issued, which for UCAM Murcia is the Region of Murcia. Family members who join you cannot work. Read more on studying and working in Spain.

Student visa

For a UCAM bachelor's degree, Spain issues a study permit (estancia por estudios) for the full length of the program. You apply at the Spanish consulate at least 2 months before classes start. The authorization is decided within 7 days, and the consulate then issues the visa within 1 month. After arrival you apply for your TIE card within 1 month.

Main visa requirements

• Funds of 100% IPREM per month: €600, or €7,200 for a year. Tuition is not part of this sum.
• Private health insurance with no co-payments, no waiting periods and no coverage limit.
• Police clearance from every country you lived in over the last 5 years, if you are 18 or older.
• A medical certificate for the visa application.
• A passport valid for at least 1 more year.

If your visa is refused, UCAM refunds the seat reservation (not the administrative fees), provided you applied before the program start with genuine documents and funds, and you have the refusal letter. You can also defer once, for up to 1 year, by asking in writing more than 28 days before the start. Full details are on our Spain student visa page.

Other options

If UCAM's language rules or fees do not fit, compare the private Universidad Europea and CEU San Pablo University, or public universities such as Complutense University of Madrid and the University of Barcelona, which teach mostly in Spanish or Catalan. Our overview of studying in Spain and the admission requirements are good starting points.

Send us your school certificate, grades and English results. We check them against UCAM — Universidad Católica de Murcia's requirements for your program, plan homologation and visa dates for your intake, and compare 2–3 alternatives in Spain or elsewhere. The first consultation is free. Contact us by form, WhatsApp or Telegram.