Higher education in Portugal

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Higher education in Portugal is divided into two main subsystems: university and polytechnic education, and it is provided in autonomous public universities, private universities, public or private polytechnic institutions and higher education institutions of other types.

In Portugal, the university system has a strong theoretical basis and is highly research-oriented; the polytechnical system provides a more practical training and is profession-oriented.

Degrees in fields such as medicine, law, natural sciences, economics, psychology or veterinary are taught only in university institutions. Other fields like engineering, management, education, agriculture, sports, or humanities are taught both in university and polytechnic institutions. Specifically vocationally orientated degrees such as, nursing, preschool education, accountancy, or paramedic degrees, are only offered by the polytechnic institutions.

The oldest university is the University of Coimbra founded in 1290. The largest university, by number of enrolled students, is the University of Porto - with approximately 28000 students. The Portuguese Catholic University, is the oldest non-state-run university (concordatary status), was instituted by decree of the Holy See and has been recognized by the State of Portugal since 1971.

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). Access to private institutions is regulated by each institution.

The two systems of higher education - university and polytechnic - are linked and it is possible to transfer from one to the other through extraordinary competition. 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 Faculty (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, but also in several universities.

Access to higher education institutions is subject to number restrictions (numerus clausus) and admission is by competition. Students who hold a diploma of secondary education (12th grade) or the equivalent, who meet all the demands laid down by law, particularly exams in specific subjects in which minimum marks must be obtained, may apply. Citizens with over 23 years-old who does not have the secondary education diploma (12th grade) can try their admission to a limited number of vacant places available in some institutions, generally polytechnic, through special examination which includes an interview. For a number of academic fields, undergraduate admission criteria and student evaluation in public university institutions are usually more selective and demanding than in private or polytechnic institutions.

After 2006, with the approval of new legislation [1] 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 confer the mestrado (master's degree). Before that, only university institutions could award the master's degree. As of December 2006, no master's degree programmes are yet offered by polytechnical institutions. All universities, and some other university institutions award master's degrees as a second cycle of study. Some universities are offering integrated master's degrees through a longer single cycle of study.

Doutoramentos (Ph.D. degrees) are only awarded by the universities.[2]

There are also special higher education institutions linked with the military and the police. These specific institutions have generally a good reputation and are popular among the youngsters because its 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.

Contents

[edit] Situation

A building of the New University of Lisbon
A building of the New University of Lisbon

In Portugal, university attendance before the Carnation Revolution (1974) was predominantly for the students from wealthy families. Today higher education, which includes polytechnic institutions, is generalized but very heterogeneous, with different tonalities and subsystems. Overcrowded classrooms, obsolete curricula, disloyal competition among institutions, frequent rules changing in the sector and increasingly higher fees charged (inside the public higher education system), although much smaller than private institution fees[3] are big problems for many students. 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.[4] Despite all the problems, there are many good institutions with a long tradition of excellence in teaching and research, where students and professors can attain their highest academic ambitions.

[edit] University and polytechnic

Portugal has two main systems of higher education:

  • 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 schools of the 19th century).[5] 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. Three of them are located in Lisbon, the capital of Portugal (four if considered also ISCTE, a large and independent 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).[6] 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, 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 do not mean, many of its students haven't become great and distinctive professionals with recognized competence). 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[7] - in average, state-funding per student is about 60% higher for university students[8]. Since the mid 2000s, after many reforms, upgrades and changes, including the Bologna process, the polytechnic institutes have become de facto technical universities with little 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 some 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).[9] 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, claiming against discretionary attitudes and considerable bureaucracy. Government replies defending the necessity of maintaining some selective mechanisms to secure a minimum level of institution quality, rationalize the whole system, and protect educational standards.

[edit] History of the university sub sector

The tower of the University of Coimbra, the oldest Portuguese university
The tower of the University of Coimbra, the oldest Portuguese university

The public university schools have a long history in Portugal. They started at the Middle Ages, and like the other European universities at the time, they were founded by the monarchs under the authority and supervision of the Catholic Church. For many centuries there was only one university, the University of Coimbra founded in 1290 in Lisbon and transferred between Coimbra and Lisbon several times. The University of Évora was an old university which operated between 1559 and 1759, but it was shut down during the Marquis of Pombal government, because it was run by the Jesuits, and the marquis had a strong anticlerical creed. A university at Évora is working again since 1973 as a state-run university. With a largely illiterate population, that two universities at Coimbra and Évora, and later some higher education schools in Lisbon (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 such good enough for a such small population inside a territory like the Continental Portugal of the 16th-19th centuries. During the 19th century some other isolated higher education schools were established. For instance, two surgery university schools were established: the Lisbon Royal School of Surgery and Porto Royal School of Surgery opened in 1825. They will be later incorporated into two new universities created in 1911 in Lisbon and Porto, which will also absorb the former Lisbon's Escola Politécnica and Curso Superior de Letras, and the Porto's Academia Politécnica, being reformed and upgraded to faculties in the same year. Other well succeeded 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 that university schools in 1911. With the advent of the Republic, University of Lisbon and University of Porto were created in 1911. In 1930, a new technical university in Lisbon was created, the Technical University of Lisbon, which incorporated the Instituto Superior Técnico and some other institutes and colleges such as the Instituto Superior de Comércio, and agriculture and veterinary schools. In 1972 the ISCTE 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 of 1974 this first faculty of a never completed larger projected university, stayed alone. In 1973 a new wave of state-run universities opened in Lisbon - the New University of Lisbon, Braga - the Minho University and Évora - the University of Évora. After 1974, the revolution's year, new public universities were created in Vila Real - the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Aveiro - the University of Aveiro, Covilhã - the University of Beira Interior, Faro - the University of the Algarve, Madeira - the University of Madeira, and the Azores - the University of the Azores. Some time later, 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. Nowadays, the Portuguese Catholic University a private university with branches in the cities of Lisbon, Porto, Braga, Viseu, and Figueira da Foz founded before the others, in 1967, and officially recognized in 1971, is very prestigious. This private university has a unique status, being run by the Catholic Church (see list of universities in Portugal).

Since its creation, Portuguese universities have been the exclusive masters and doctoral degrees granters in the country. Today, as in the past, they have full autonomy to offer all major levels of academic degrees. Since the mid 2000s they are the institutions responsible for conducting, supervising and approve postgraduate degrees for some non-university higher education institutions previously unqualified to grant postgraduations, like was the case of the polytechnic institutes.

[edit] History of the polytechnic sub sector

Portuguese learning institutions using such names as "polytechnic" or "industrial and commercial institute" were established in varied periods with very different roles and objectives. They are designations for university or polytechnic higher education institutions to technical and vocational education institutions.

  • The Polytechnic Schools at Lisbon and Porto:

The 19th century - the industrialization era - created the need for new education institutions 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 and fully focused on the sciences, mathematics, and engineering. Other than the name, they were not related at all with the current polytechnic subsystem which exist in Portugal since the 1970s, or to any current institution belonging to them.

The label and legal statute of University was of exclusive use of the University of Coimbra, but with the Republican revolution, in 1911 two new universities were founded, and the Escola Politécnica and Academia Politécnica were respectively, the core from where the sciences and engineering faculties of the new universities of Lisbon and Porto 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 that institutions excessively theoretical for the industrial labour force needs, and 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) and the Escola Industrial do Porto (Porto Industrial School), that a decade later was also declared an Institute and started also to award higher education degrees. The Instituto Industrial de Lisboa gave birth to the IST that with other colleges formed the Technical University of Lisbon in 1930.

  • The Industrial and Commercial Institutes and Schools:

The Industrial Superior Studies were cut short after as the country suffered many social and political convulsions, and the creation of the new universities in Lisbon and Porto covered the highest educational needs of the country at the time. Between 1950 to 1974 (until the approval of decree Decreto-Lei 830/74 of 31 December 1974), the Industrial and Commercial Institutes still existing in Porto and Lisbon, plus new ones created in Coimbra and Aveiro, provided vocational and technical education, instead of higher education.

  • Modern-day polytechnic sub sector development:[10]

The idea of creating a polytechnic sector in Portugal can be traced back to the OECD'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 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...[the Bank recommends a] gradual 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 and improve the management of the system, namely in terms of accountability, coordination, and efficiency. 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, 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, 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 vacancies quotas, and raised the issue of diseconomies of scale in the system, suggesting that there were too many institutions with small dimension. 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, for training intermediate level technicians for industries, service companies and educational units (first cycle of basic education).

During the 1970s and 1980s started a new era in Portugal's educational system with the establishment of many polytechnic institutes which replaced short-cycle technical training with polytechnic higher education by establishing a network of polytechnic institutes, including Higher Schools of Education (Escolas Superiores de Educação)[11] 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 lacking 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 existing polytechnics were firstly transformed into University Institutes under the allegation that they should not remain "second class" institutions, and a few years later were upgraded to full chartered universities.[12] The polytechnic institutes, heirs from a large network of reputed but discontinued intermediate schools with tradition in technical and vocational education which also incorporated other older institutions formerly known as industrial institutes (see Instituto Industrial de Lisboa, Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa and Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto), were originally created to produce skilled intermediate[13] technicians in specific areas. The short-cycle polytechnical degrees were mainly aimed at the training of intermediate technicians for the industry and commerce but also for basic health and education, instead of academicians (like biologists, chemists, economists, geographers, historians, lawyers, mathematicians, philosophers, physicians, physicists, engineers, et al.), lecturers, researchers and scientists that were already produced inside the Portuguese universities. In 1974, the Industrial and Commercial Institutes of vocational education were transformed into higher learning Superior Institutes of Engineering and Accounting and Administration and integrated in the university subsector, although exclusively focused on providing short-cycle degrees, but the need for a stronger polytechnic sector and these schools history and purpose led these 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).

Since its creation in the late 1970s, polytechnic institutions used to offer a three year course, awarding a bacharelato (bachelor degree) instead of a university licenciatura (licentiate) degree which was four to six years.[14][15] The Portuguese licenciatura was also an undergraduate longer degree, which included a licensure 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 wish 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 (CESEs) 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 DESEs 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 CESEs into two-stage degrees obtained in two levels (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.

By this 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 degree), both are bachelor degrees, the universities offer a single bachelor degree of four to five years. This will be changed with the Bologna process with a new system of three years for a bachelor degree (licenciatura). Two further years will grant a masters degree (mestrado) which will be conferred by the polytechnic institute under protocols with a partner university. The doctoral degree (doutoramento) will be conferred only by a university, as it always have been, a polytechnic can prepare a doctoral degree[citation needed] but only an associated university will grant the degree (as it occur today with the Masters degree), although some polytechnics disagree with this because they believe they have not a worst reputation than some universities.[citation needed] Other polytechnics, most notably the ones of Bragança, Leiria, and Viseu, want their status changed to "Polytechnic University".[citation needed] Veiga Simão, former minister creator of the new universities and polytechnics after 1970, was commissioned by the Portuguese government in the late 1990s to study a new organization for higher education, and proposed the concept of "Polytechnic University", not to be applied to most current polytechnics though, but for a reorganized higher education sub sector.[citation needed] This intention was halted with the change of government and protests from Classical universities.[citation needed]

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), has approved in 2005 the express will to reintegrate the university sub sector as part of the University of Lisbon[16] 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 was regarded as a minor higher education subsystem in Portugal before mid 2000s and the Bologna process, due to limitations that were imposed by State Education Laws to polytechnics (such as the professor's career, the professor's wages, the State funds spending and the teaching competences of the polytechnics). In the opposite direction, Porto Superior Institute of Engineering (ISEP) refused University of Porto's (and one of its predecessor schools, the Polytechnic Academy), past attempts to integrate Porto Institute of Industry (today's ISEP) within the university[citation needed]. The original proposal was dropped, partially because the University of Porto owns its own engineering school since 1911 - the Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto, known as Faculdade de Engenharia since 1926, that is not the case of the University of Lisbon.

Nursing and health technologies (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, but 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 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 educational 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 were approved the new courses in nursing, conferring a licenciatura diploma (Administrative Rule 353/99 of 8 September 1999 - Decreto Lei n.º 353/99, de 8 de Setembro).

In the past, 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. For the other side, 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. Other example of a short-lived state-run polytechnical institute was the PIC - Polytechnical Institute of Covilhã (Instituto Politécnico da Covilhã). The University of Beira Interior in Covilhã was founded in 1979 after the extinction of a former and also short-lived polytechnical institute - the Instituto Politécnico da Covilhã (1973-1979). A remarkable level of achievements granted 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 was granted full university status becoming the current University of Beira Interior.

Between the 1950s and the 1970s, many schools that are today integrated into the polytechnic subsector, were industrial and commercial schools of vocational education, as well as intermediate schools for primary education teacher training, schools of agriculture, or nursing schools. Current establishments of polytechnic studies in engineering such as the Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa, Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto, Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Coimbra, the nursing schools, and the current polytechnic schools of education (Escolas Superiores de Educação) were at least during that period (1950-1974) institutions without any relation with higher education, and were known by other names. The admission to these schools were opened to people with no complete secondary education, being the universities reserved for students with full secondary school formation. For decades, these vocational schools did not have higher education status or credentials like they actually have now. It must be remembered that the Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa and the Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto, both born from the earlier industrial institutes (Instituto Industrial), were degree conferring institutions in technical engineering during different periods on their long histories before 1950, and were known by other institutional names.

[edit] The Bologna process in Portugal

The Bologna Process was a European 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 reform aim was to create by 2010 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.

Portugal, like other European States, has conducted educational policies and reforms to accomplish these objectives. This include the reorganization of both university and polytechnic subsystems and the implementation of extensive legal and curricular changes. Since its field application in 2006 it has being widely contested by some students (many lost an academic year with the change), and several universities introduced integrated master's degrees in several courses, instead of the two separated study cycles.

[edit] Degree significance and accreditation

Schools that adhered to the Bologna process maintained the degree names but their significance changed. In ascending order of importance:

[edit] Degrees

Bacharelato (Bachelor's degree) - title: Bacharel - abbreviation: none or Bach.

  • Non-Bologna: three-year course in a polytechnic
  • Bologna: not used

Licenciatura (Academic License) - title: Licenciado (popular: Doutor or Engenheiro) - abbreviation: Lic. (popular: Dr. or Eng.)

  • Non-Bologna: 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
  • Bologna: three- to six-year course in a university or polytechnic.

Pós-Graduação or Especialização (Postgraduate degree) - no specific title

  • Usually one year of specific study for holders of a Licenciatura or Mestrado.

Mestrado (Master's degree) - 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.

Doutorado (Doctorate) - 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 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) - 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.

[edit] Accreditation

Professional associations of some of the regulated professions run their own accreditation systems. In general, registration with such associations is a requisite for the legal practice of the profession and it normally requires an admission examination. The accreditation process exemptes candidates, possessing an accredited course degree, of such examination.[17]

[edit] 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 years course (an exception included medicine, with a 6 years course) known as licenciatura which was granted exclusively by universities. Only graduates having the licenciatura diploma exclusively conferred by the universities were full capacitated to develop its professional activity in its 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 years bacharelato degree that the newly created polytechnic institutes started to award in the 1970s and 1980s, like the technical engineering courses or 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 3 years 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 respective field of expertise. At that same date, 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.[18]

[edit] 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 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. However, there are many courses whose degrees are still not recognized by the Ordens Profissionais (the highest Portuguese authorities in accreditation of graduated professionals), especially those courses conferred by several polytechnic institutes and many private institutions. For instance, there are many courses in engineering, law, or architecture, among many other fields, which are not recognized by its respective highest professional association authority (Ordens Profissionais). 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 Ordens Profissionais (these include the Ordem dos Engenheiros; Ordem dos Advogados; Ordem dos Arquitectos) and the State.

[edit] Admission and inequalities

Admission to state-run higher education level studies requires either a secondary school credential, Diploma de Ensino Secundário, given after twelve study years, or an extraordinary exam process available to anyone aged 23 or older. Admission to private institutions is at the total discretion of each school.

[edit] 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 local for private institutions. In addition to passing entrance exams, students must fulfil particular prerequisites for the chosen course. Enrollment is limited; each year the institution establishes the number of places available. At the universities this is called the numerus clausus. For the public institutions 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 attributed vacant, 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 polytechnics or nursing and health technologies schools, should have some previous vocational training and preference will be given to applicants from the catchment area of the institution concerned.

[edit] Extraordinary Exam Process

Even without a complete secondary school education, anyone 23 or above 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. The process consists of the general Portuguese exam, an interview to evaluate motivation and CV, and additional exams specific to each school and course, obligatorily written and oral. Candidates approved go through a separate numerus clausus or enrolll directly at the discretion of the school's board.

[edit] Inequalities

The public university courses demanded generally, until mid 2000s, much higher admission marks than most similar courses at the polytechnic institutes or private institutions. This was a major statistical fact among the higher education subsystems in Portugal.[19] However, it is not possible today characterize precisely a course's quality level by the higher education subsystem it belongs (polytechnic or university) because there are selective courses demanding high grades and having great reputation and popularity in both subsystems after many years of reforms and reorganization in the polytechnical subsytem. 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 being announced to increase to 20 students from 2006/07.[20] For the other side, higher grades inside the higher education institutions were more frequent for those students of private, public polytechnic and some 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, university, and private courses of some Portuguese institutions which were or are generally seen as being rather relaxed. 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 many times decisive. This have allowed so many other inequalities such as the future impossibility of obtaining a masters or doctoral degree for that students with lower marks (usually less than 14, out of 20 for masters degree, or 16 out of 20 for doctorate), and the higher average completion time for graduation and subsequent entrance into the labour market, with so different standards in so many heterogeneous institutions.[21] Currently, after changes introduced by the Bologna process, master's degrees can be awarded to any student who had completed the first study cycle (licenciatura) and enroll in the second study cycle (mestrado).

For instance, medicine is traditionally and effectively one of the most wanted courses in Portugal, and because of that, one of the most demanding in terms of exams and prerequisites. Normally a student who wants to attend the Medicine Faculty at one of the seven Portuguese public universities which exclusively offer this graduation course, have to get very high grades in the Chemistry and Biology entrance exams and have to have done an almost-brilliant secondary school course. Architecture, economics, electrical engineering, chemical engineering, civil engineering, computer sciences, biochemistry, dentistry or pharmacy at the main public universities, are on a smaller scale, another examples of courses which are traditionally the most selective and prestigious. In contrast with these, like in any other educational system in the world, there are many courses offered by polytechnic institutes, private universities, and public university departments, 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.

[edit] Employability

After students graduate from a higher education institution, factors like the field of studies, the average grades achieved during the course and the prestige of the teaching institution, are relatively important to get a job. But the most important is the employment market conjuncture at each moment.

Due to these factors, higher education courses with a higher employability rate include medicine, nursing, health technician courses, several engineering specializations, computer sciences, and architecture.

On the other side, low employability is found among teaching, humanities and some social sciences fields of study, like history, geography, linguistics, philosophy, sociology; or in a smaller scale among the exact sciences and natural sciences, such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology or geology, when these courses are oriented towards a more common teaching career, instead of a more technical or scientific research career.

Law is also a course with an increasingly low employability rate, because of an excessive number of new graduates each year.

A report made by Expresso Portuguese newspaper and dated from 2004 was taken to see which Portuguese universities and polytechnics were the most desired in Portugal by companies in the fields of engineering, structural engineering, marketing, management, economics and finance.[22] This non-scientific report was made through a questionnaire made to some human resources recruiting firms, which means that the universe in analysis comprises only the candidates who are seeking a job through that recruiting firms, and excludes the highly qualified candidates who are recruited directly by the companies, by other important recruiting firms, or are invited by brainhunters even before graduation. For the other side, some graduates are recruited from local higher learning institutions through partnerships with local companies, instead of being recruited through full and open competition.

[edit] Highly regarded institutions

Building at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon
Building at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon

Among the biggest and most highly financed institutions of higher education in Portugal are the University of Coimbra, the University of Lisbon, the New University of Lisbon, the Technical University of Lisbon and the University of Porto. These five public universities manage the biggest budgets for teaching and research, have the largest number of enrolled graduation and postgraduation students, being renowned in aspects such as:

  • faculty quality
  • research & development production
  • research & development units
  • internationally recognized papers and publications
  • number of new applicants every year
  • number of new applicants admitted as their first choice
  • nationwide and international recognition
  • top-class infrastructures
  • wanted courses
  • renowned ex-students
  • robust and rigorous curricula
  • extra curricular programmes and activities

Although generally smaller and younger, the other public universities and the polytechnical institutes, are regional powerhouses in some studying/teaching areas. They have also contributed to the development of the local populations and to the improvement of their quality of life. This group of universities and polytechnics englobe the other state-run Portuguese institutions founded after 1970.

In the university subsector, University of Aveiro; Minho University; University of Beira Interior (the former two were chosen to offer medicine graduation courses since the 2000s, when only Lisbon's, Porto's and Coimbra's public universities used to have that privilege before); and the ISCTE, have been frequently referred to as the "new generation" of the Portuguese university institutions, renowned in general for its innovative methods and modernity (see list of universities in Portugal).

In the polytechnical subsector's engineering and accontancy fields, the Instituto Superior de Engenharia of Lisbon, Porto, and Coimbra and the Instituto Superior de Contabilidade e Administração of Lisbon, Porto, Coimbra and Aveiro, are well-known in the country, and their former students are highly requested by Portuguese employers.

Portuguese Catholic University has generally been considered a prestigious non-state-run university, notably because of law, economics and business management degrees offered at its Lisbon's and Porto's faculties. In a varying degree, other private institutions are also renowned in several fields, being highly regarded by many employers.

[edit] Research at higher learning institutions

Academic research represented in 2003 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, while it had reached 0.85% in 2001, when the European average was 1.98% for the 15 EU member-states at date. 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, part of the group of the countries of excellence that contributed to the share of top 1% of the world's highly cited publications. Spain is responsible for 2.08%, whereas Ireland and Greece account for 0.36% and 0.3%, respectively.[23]

  • Research centers belonging to higher learning institutions accredited by FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, 2004
Type of institution Number of research centers Number of institutions
Public universities 384 14
Public polytechnics 8 15
Catholic University 14 1
Private universities 7 N/A
Other private institutions 20 N/A
Total 433 N/A

Source: FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia [12]

[edit] International partnership programmes

[edit] References

  1. ^ Decree-Law 74/2006, of 24 March
  2. ^ MINISTÉRIO DA CIÊNCIA, TECNOLOGIA E ENSINO SUPERIOR, Decreto-Lei nº 74/2006 de 24 de Março, Artigo 29º - Atribuição do grau de doutor, accessed December 2006
  3. ^ The tuition fee for undergraduate degrees was less than 10€/year in 1995, and had increased to 356€/year in 2002/2003 in many institutions. It was increased again by many universities to 880€/year and to 901,23€/year in 2005/2006, the maximum fee allowed to state universities by law. First cycle annual fees of public higher education institutions can not exceed 920 euros (as of 2006)
  4. ^ "...perto de 40% dos alunos do ensino superior não terminavam o seu curso em 2003." Relatório da OCDE de avaliação do ensino superior - O Relatório da OCDE: A avaliação do sistema de ensino superior em Portugal, source: OECD report, website: www.portugal.gov.pt - Official website of the Government of Portuguese Republic, date: 14th December 2006, retrieved March 2007 (in Portuguese)
  5. ^ ENGINEERING EDUCATION IN PORTUGAL, European Federation of National Engineering Associations, accessed December 2006
  6. ^ 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, pg.63 (April 2006), accessed December 2006
  7. ^ "Essa pressão social já se adivinhava no princípio dos anos 70, pelo que a criação do ensino politécnico já correspondia, à partida, a uma forma de reduzir a pressão sobre as elites universitárias e responder à necessidade nacional de multiplicação dos indivíduos qualificados sem que fosse feita a multiplicação do orçamento necessário.", "A existência de um sistema politécnico raramente foi um contributo diferenciado para a melhoria da capacidade produtiva do país, tendo apenas cumprido o seu papel de redutor de assimetrias, dada a fixação de população jovem em distritos em risco de desertificação.", Uma carreira única num sistema unificado?, Luis Moutinho da Silva, Auxiliary Professor at the Instituto Superior de Ciências da Saúde - Norte, in Ensino Superior n.º 20 - Abril de 2006 / Maio de 2006 (SNESup - Sindicato Nacional do Ensino Superior/National Union of Higher Education magazine), SNESup - Sindicato Nacional do Ensino Superior/National Union of Higher Education official website, accessed March 2007 (in Portuguese)
  8. ^ "Relativamente ao financiamento por aluno, as Universidades, que contam com 155.000 alunos no total, dispõem de 4.590 euros por aluno, enquanto que os Institutos Politécnicos com 105.000 alunos inscritos contam apenas com 2.920 euros por cada aluno." ENDA - Encontro Nacional de Dirigentes Associativos (National Meeting of Students' Unions), source:Engenhocas website (ISEC's student magazine), date: October 2005, accessed March 2007 (in Portuguese)
  9. ^ 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, pg.63 (April 2006), accessed December 2006
  10. ^ 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, pgs.95-96 (April 2006), accessed December 2006
  11. ^ Mediating the Economic Pulses: The International Connection in Portuguese Higher Education, Pedro Teixeira, Alberto Amaral, and Maria João Rosa - Higher Education Quarterly, Volume 57, Issue 2, Page 181 - April 2003, accessed December 2006
  12. ^ 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, pgs.95-96 (April 2006), accessed December 2006
  13. ^ 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, pgs.95-96 (April 2006), accessed December 2006
  14. ^ ENGINEERING EDUCATION IN PORTUGAL, European Federation of National Engineering Associations, accessed December 2006
  15. ^ Concretização do Processo de Bolonha no Ensino da Engenharia em Portugal (28th July 2004), Instituto Superior Técnico, accessed December 2006 (in Portuguese)
  16. ^ Universidade de Lisboa propõe ao Governo integrar ISEL - Barata Moura, reitor da Universidade de Lisboa, vai apresentar a proposta a Mariano Gago. (28th June 2005), Diário Económico, accessed January 2007 (in Portuguese)
  17. ^ Towards the european higher education area - Bologna process, NATIONAL REPORTS 2004 – 2005, accessed December 2006
  18. ^ 15 mil alunos frequentam cursos não reconhecidos - Expresso (Nº1382), 24th April 1999, accessed December 2006 (in Portuguese)
  19. ^ "Analysis from the mid 90´s..." "...institutional responses differed, with a few of the most recognized institutions setting high minimum marks, while less prestigious institutions set lower entrance standards" - 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, pg.49 (April 2006), accessed December 2006
  20. ^ 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, pg.48 (April 2006), accessed December 2006
  21. ^ Council of Ministers, Working Group - Strategic Orientations for the Restructure of the Portuguese Network of Higher Education Institutions, 29th May 2004, accessed December 2006
  22. ^ As universidades que dão trabalho, Expresso (editorial do caderno de emprego) - 22nd October 2004, accessed December 2006
  23. ^ See the analysis of King, D.A., The scientific Impact of Nations – What difference countries for their research spending, Nature, vol. 430, 15 July 2004
  24. ^ [1]
  25. ^ [2]
  26. ^ [3], [4]
  27. ^ [5]
  28. ^ [6]
  29. ^ [7]
  30. ^ [8]
  31. ^ [9]
  32. ^ http://www.mctes.pt/docs/ficheiros/PROGRA_OVERVIEW_CMU__26out06.pdf
  33. ^ Santana, Maria José. (October 28, 2006). Portugal une-se à Carnegie por instituto internacional. Público
  34. ^ [10]
  35. ^ [11]

[edit] Other resources

[edit] See also

[edit] External link

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