AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL COMPARISON BETWEEN THE

SPANISH AND AMERICAN UNIVERSITY SYSTEMS

( IN THE 1960'S )

Joseph ReinckensDr. RosenfeldAnthropology 2T.-Th. 4:15-5:30Fall 1969

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PREFACE

Being a Spanish major, I have become interested in the Spanish educational system.

Since I plan to teach at the university level, I am particularly interested in the Spanish

university system.

In the course of my studies, I have found several interesting differences between the

university systems of Spain and of the United States, which have led me to do a comparative

study of the two systems. For instance, students at Spanish universities are required to know

Latin and another classical language for graduation,1 but in American universities students

often have no language requirement. Why? And why is it that when Spanish students

transfer from one university to another they generally receive full credit on all their previous

course work, while American students often lose credit for a year or more of work?

Just what are the reasons for these and the many other differences between the

Spanish and the American university systems? And more important, what is the impact of

these differences?

To answer these questions, I interviewed Dr. Gerald Guidera of the Spanish

Department at Hofstra University. Dr. Guidera spent seven years in Spain studying for a

doctorate in general history, with an emphasis on social anthropology. In response to a series

of questions, he supplied information about the Spanish educational system in general, and

the university system in particular. I then asked him to confirm or refute conclusions which

I had reached on certain aspects of the Spanish system, during the questioning.

As the final step, I have re-examined the data and formed what seem to me to be

logical answers as to why the differences between the two systems exist, and as to what

differences in impact result.

Because a complete comparison of all aspects of the Spanish and American university

systems would be an extremely broad topic, I have limited this paper to academic concerns,

1. This and all other factual material on the Spanish educational system was suppliedby Dr. Guidera. The opinions are my own, except where noted.

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and have not discussed areas such as student housing, scholarships, athletics, student

government, etc.

It should be noted that in cases concerning particular programs, the liberal arts school

of the Universidad de Sevilla and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences of Hofstra

University are used for examples, except where noted. "State schools" refer to universities

affiliated with State University of New York. Since there are no "colleges" in Spain, colleges

are included among the universities when discussing the American system. Finally,

"Spanish" students and universities are considered only those in Spain proper.

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PROLOGUE

There are several basic differences between the Spanish and American systems of

pre-university education, and these must be explained before the university systems can be

seriously studied.

The American student generally completes thirteen years of pre-university education:

one year of kindergarten, six years of grammar school, three years of junior high and three

years of high school. At the end of this schooling he usually has studied several fields, and

is not even fairly competent in any or them.

The duration of pre-university education varies in Spain. Students study until they are

approximately ten-to-twelve years old, at the end of which they take a set of exams. If they

pass these exams, they enter a school called ingreso, the approximate equivalent of our junior

high school. They continue to study until they are about sixteen to eighteen, and then take

another set of exams. If they pass these exams they get a degree. The education of most

Spaniards ends here and is approximately equivalent to an American high school education

in the liberal arts and sciences. However, this education is not sufficient to satisfy the

entrance requirements of Spanish universities. A Spanish student must have still a second

degree, conferred after approximately two additional years of study, and more exams. This

education is approximately equivalent to an American junior college in depth, but in Spain

it is considered pre-university.

Thus, the Spanish student who is entering a university generally differs from an

American student in several ways: he is more educated, he is usually two years older,

although students have fulfilled all the requirements and entered the universities at seventeen,

and because of the age difference, he is probably more mature.

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AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL COMPARISON BETWEEN THE

SPANISH AND AMERICAN UNIVERSITY SYSTEMS

As a starting point, it would probably be best to begin with the differences in entrance

requirements between Spanish and American universities.

American schools show great diversity in their requirements, resulting in a narrowed

student attitude and potential at a particular school. The student who is accepted at Harvard

is probably very unlike the student who is accepted at Nassau Community College, in

learning potential. And the student who is accepted to a liberal California school is probably

very unlike the student who is accepted to a conservative southern school, in his political

views and social attitudes.

However, this school-by-school diversity is not present in Spain. Schools require the

degree for study beyond the ingreso, and entrance examinations, and the academic

requirements are all very similar. Similarly, transfer requirements are generally the same.

This similarity of entrance and transfer requirements in Spanish universities is not a

coincidence. Unlike America, where many colleges and universities are privately owned,

or owned by the various states, universities in Spain, with the exception of only a few, are

owned by the Ministry of Education and Science.

When one considers that Spain is a dictatorship, the reason for and the results of this

seem quite obvious; governmental control of education allows the government to repress

intellectual opposition to its actions and policies, and to spread its own ideas more easily.

Of course, this results in education with a slanted viewpoint, which our system tends to

reduce.

Governmental control of Spanish universities, while it may be used tor repression, still

presents two academic advantages: uniformity of education and ability of teachers.

All schools teach basically the same material, which is why Spanish students can

usually transfer and retain all credit. Quite obviously, uniform education probably tends to

eliminate "degree waving" by graduates of inferior schools, a practice which, unfortunately,

is common in America.

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In Spain, just as the quality of education is regulated, so is the quality of teaching. In

America, one can teach with any amount of education, if some school will hire him. In

Spain, however, one must pass a state exam to teach at a university. This has the advantage

of eliminating unqualified teachers, but it probably also eliminates qualified ones which the

government considers undesirable because of their political views.

Having seen the differences in the concept of entrance requirements and in the

regulation of university education and educators, one might wonder if the Spanish and

American credit systems are the same. They are not.

The Spanish credit system, and Spanish class schedules, are completely different from

ours, and must be considered before one compares Spanish and American academic

programs. There are no semester hours; rather, "contact" hours,2 hours spent in actual

classroom work, are important. Classes are conducted six days a week, and are generally an

hour long; students are expected to attend all sessions. Courses are given on Monday,

Tuesday, and Wednesday, or on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and run for the entire

academic year,3 starting in October and running through June; there is no intersession, but

there are more holidays. There are also summer sessions, but only Madrid has evening

sessions. A normal load is seven courses, the equivalent of approximately twenty-one

American semester hours, but there are also part-time and independent-study programs. And

finally, Spanish students study for five years, at the end of which they receive the

licenciatura, the equivalent of an American Master's degree.

2. This is not the official term; it was coined by Dr. Guidera, being the closestEnglish word for the Spanish idea.

3. When a foreign student studies in Spain during the spring semester, he eitherenters special courses arranged by foreign schools, or enters a full-year course at anappropriate stage. For instance, we might take History 2 here, and enter the full-year coursejust before the study of the French Revolution, or take a special History 2 course arrangedby an American school.

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The differences between the Spanish and American credit systems are probably due

to tradition, and are rather unimportant in any case. What is important is the results of these

differences.

One can plainly see that the duration of a university education in Spain is longer than

one in America: five years rather than four. This might seem unimportant, considering that

the licenciatura, for which a thesis in required, is the equivalent of the Master's degree, but

another fact must be considered: Spanish students carry heavier loads in terms of both class

hours and the number of courses they take, than American students do. Presumably, this

would allow students in Spain to cover more material in more depth, than their American

counterparts, resulting in a more thorough education.

However, there are no set standards as to which education is more thorough. Both the

licenciatura and the Master's degree lead to doctoral programs. However, the comparative

depth of knowledge between the two degrees varies with the field of specialization.

According to Dr. Guidera, a graduate of the licenciatura program who majored in linguistics

probably has approximately the same amount of knowledge as a holder of the American

Ph.D. However, students in most fields have about the same degree of competence in

comparative stages of education.

After seeing the differences in the Spanish and the American credit systems, and their

effects, one is likely to wonder if the academic programs are similar; for instance, are there

any requirements in Spain?

There are requirements, just as we have requirements, but they differ in length and

purpose. At Hofstra, for instance, a liberal arts student must study a natural science, a social

science, a foreign language, his native language, history, and some form of either fine arts

or philosophy, the purpose of these requirements being to provide the student with a general

education. Students in other fields have different, but very similar, requirements. Many

students in state schools have no requirements at all. In Spain, however, all universities have

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requirements, which differ greatly, depending on the school4 in which one is enrolled. For

instance, a Spanish student in liberal arts must know Latin and either classical Greek,

Hebrew, or Arabic for an appreciation of the classical literary tradition. However, he does

not have to study natural science5 or other such subjects, because they are not considered

liberal arts in Spain.

The length of time required to fulfill the Spanish and the American requirements is

small, but the difference in the amount of material covered is great. Spaniards take "common

studies" which last for two years, but consist of the equivalent of twenty-eight American

three-hour courses. We, on the other hand, take about a year-and-a-half to complete

approximately eleven to sixteen three-hour courses, as well as a college orientation course.

One will probably ask why the Spanish student's education is more channelled than

that of his American counterpart. It seems that the Spanish student will be unfamiliar with

many disciplines, but this is not so; his pre-university training is much wider in scope, and

much more thorough than that of an American student. It has already been stated that

university students must know Latin; most of them have learned enough Latin in their pre-

university training that they do not have to continue with it. The same is true with science

and many of the other disciplines which Spanish students in a particular school do not study.

The above deals with specific courses and programs. However, there are also general

differences in how material is approached and what is or is not studied.

Teaching methods are generally different. In America most universities emphasize

concepts rather than facts. In Spain the reverse is true, and most course work consists of

lecture and memorization. However, the emphasis is on theory rather than on practice.

Just as there is a difference in what the course material emphasizes, so is there a

difference in what one studies. In America most undergraduates major in the liberal arts or

4. School is used here to mean a division of a university, such as our School ofBusiness or our School of Education.

5. Such subjects are offered by separate schools, and in such cases, credit is generallynot transferable.

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sciences, and many study to be pre-university teachers. There is also a large amount of

American students who study business or engineering sciences. Many fields of study, such

as law, are open only to students who already hold a college degree. In Spain, however,

things are very different. For various social and economic reasons, few Spaniards attend

universities, and most,of those who do study law, an undergraduate program, in preparation

for careers in business, not in law. Many Spaniards do not need a university education for

occupations for which such preparation is required in America. For instance, pre-university

teachers do not attend the universities, but rather, special teachers' schools.

The differences in the Spanish and American academic programs have important

results. For instance, Spanish businessmen, because of their law training, probably know the

legal aspects of business much better than American businessmen, but because they lack the

preparation in business administration, economic and business theory, scientific decision

making, etc., they are probably not as qualified for administration as American business

administrators. In a more general view, the Spanish programs are more direct and faster in

that students are not required to spend several years in a university before beginning in their

field; for example, the Spanish law program is five years, as compared to the seven years

required to finish college and law school in the United States. Academically speaking,

Spanish students probably have stronger and broader general backgrounds than American

students, for they study more subjects in greater depth for a longer time, and they would

probably tend to use a more regimented, theoretical approach to problems than their

American counterparts.

Thus one can see that an overall look at the Spanish and American university systems

reveals several big differences, each of which has important consequences.

The difference in the quality of various universities in either system relative to others

within the same system is one of the most important differences. All Spanish universities

teach the same material, and, with the exception of only the few private universities, which

are more selective and teach at a more difficult level, present the material at the same level

of difficulty. This tends to eliminate the aforementioned "degree waving" but it also prevents

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a Spanish student from entering the best school for which he can qualify, because if he is

rejected by the selective private schools, he must enter one of the government-owned

universities, which are all on the same level. In the United States, on the other hand, a wide

range of quality exists among the various universities, both government and privately owned.

This often allows one with inferior preparation to present a college degree, but it also permits

one to attend the best university for which he can qualify. Thus, the Spanish student is

guaranteed at least a minimum of education, but in most cases, he is also held to a maximum

of education, while the American student has neither guarantees nor hindrances.

The control of university education by the government, on the one hand, and the lack

of such control on the other, is another important difference between the university systems

of Spain and the United States. In Spain, governmental control sets the minimum level and

quality of education, but it also allows the government to channel education for its own

purposes and to control those who are involved with higher education. In the United States,

although many universities are owned by the government, universities are self-controlled,

which also has both benefits and disadvantages. Our universities can establish their own

academic policies, but prejudices, whether local, political, religious, etc., often limit what can

be taught and who is allowed to teach.

Another great difference between the two university systems is the material. The

Spanish system, depending on the particular school, emphasizes either the arts, the sciences,

or law. The American system emphasizes both of the former and completely disregards the

latter in most cases. Thus, Spanish education is more channeled and specialized. American

education tends to be general with a field of specialization which may or may not be closely

related to the general academic program. The American requirement system forces students

to explore many fields to which they have not previously been exposed, and often, is

responsible for a student's changing his major field. The Spanish system, on the other hand,

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because it is less general,7 would tend more to deepen a student's background than to broaden

it. Also, the American conceptual approach to course material probably tends to encourage

independent thought more than the Spanish approach of lecture and memorization.

Perhaps the most important difference between the two systems is not what is taught,

but what is not taught. As stated previously, many occupations for which university

preparation is required in America do not require such preparation in Spain, and such training

is not offered in the universities. Thus, many Spaniards could not get the benefit of a

university education in their fields, even if they were able to pay for it. In America, however,

one can study almost anything.

In conclusion, the differences between the Spanish and American university systems

have several results, which may be summed up as follows: Spanish university education is

more uniform and deeper than American university education, but it is also more restricted

and less general. Which is better in a specific field varies, but equal levels of education in

a specific field are, in general, approximately equivalent.

7. It is less general not in the sense that it covers less, but in the sense that it coversfewer distinct fields; e.g. a student must learn two foreign languages for an appreciation ofthe classical literary tradition, but does not study a natural science.

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EPILOGUE

Reading over this paper, I have been struck by several things, and I would now like

to discuss these.

First, I have noticed several changes in my views which occurred during my research.

As mentioned previously, Spanish students have been able to fulfill all the pre-university

requirements and enter the universities at seventeen. The closest thing to this in America

would probably be the old practice of "skipping" grades. I was previously against this

practice, but this paper has made me realize that a child who is mature enough to make such

a jump successfully should be permitted to save the extra year. Another viewpoint of mine

which changed was my disdain for the so-called "inferior" schools, which are fully accredited

but teach on a much simpler level than other schools. I have come to realize that many

students are not qualified to attend better schools, because of their performance in high

school, but they should not be completely denied the chance for higher education. I have

also come to realize the importance of a full liberal arts education as opposed to a limited

specialized education, and the value of requirements in providing the former.

In reviewing my method, I would definitely have done this paper differently. For one

thing, I would have chosen a narrower topic. I was unaware of the great differences between

the educational systems of Spain and the United States. I had assumed that the pre-university

programs were the same and did not expect the university systems to be so different. I also

did not realize that such a study would involve Spanish government and history, nor did I

realize that a complete study would include student activities, administration of the university

from both within and without, etc. I also would have asked Dr. Guidera more about the

Spanish requirements, and about the programs of study for major fields.

There are several things which I would have included if I were to do such a paper

again. One is the Spanish grading system (A, B, C, F), which I forgot to include. I would

also include some material which I found in a German magazine after I wrote the paper.

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