Berkley Center

As I enter my ninth month here in Spain, I find myself identifying more and more with the Spanish culture and way of life. That being said, there is still much about Spain that surprises me, and it’s always interesting to look at the differences between my own culture and that of my host country. One of the things I’ve found most baffling, for both cultures, is each country’s respective university system. There are tremendous differences between university life here in Spain and Georgetown, or any American university in general. Some might just be random (for example, I’ve noticed that, strangely enough, the preferred note-taking pen color here is blue, where in Georgetown it seems to be black), but some differences leave me wondering if the differences in the Spanish university system are a result of differences in culture...or if the Spaniards have shaped parts of their culture around the system.

One striking difference between the system here and the system in the United States is that most of the people at the University of Seville are, in fact, from Seville. Spaniards tend to think it is very strange that Americans don’t usually go to college in their home town. The only reason people move here for college is if there is absolutely nothing they want to study in their home town or their town doesn’t have a university. That being said, universities here are usually schools, not campuses. Many students commute from towns nearby, sometimes taking up to an hour to get to class through a combination of a train, bus, or good old-fashioned walking. Additionally, once you arrive on campus, your classes are in one large chunk of time, and always with the same people. Here, there is no general education. You choose your major, and you are handed a schedule with your classes. For example, a History major would take only history classes with every other history major from their year. Because of this, students take classes with the same people for four years, and every one is really close to the rest of the students in their group.

Another large difference between university here and in the United States is the price. Here, tuition each semester ranges from roughly 900 to 2000 dollars. What about textbooks? Well, there really aren’t any, except for the odd novel one might have to buy for a literature class. Teachers make the required material available to photocopy, or assign books that are located in the university library as suggested reading. It seems that a university education is more readily accessible, but, surprisingly, harder to finish. Grades are given on a scale from one to ten, and a five is passing. However, not passing a class is surprisingly common! If you fail the class, you have the opportunity to take the final again at the beginning of the next semester. On the other hand, getting a five is admirable. Not everyone is reaching for a 10, because it’s considered to be almost impossible, so in that respect, grades are less competitive.

Honestly, the fact that a university education here is more cost-efficient than in the United States does not surprise me. Europe, as a whole, believes in a stronger state, where those who pay taxes to their government should benefit from that government through an attempt to provide more equal opportunities to all. Of course, there are still people here who need scholarships and don’t get them. No system is perfect. But, in general, people are not graduating with hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt. What really struck me the most, however, was the system of always having class with the same people every day. This seems to have a strong parallel with what I have seen of the Spanish culture. Spaniards tend to have life-long friends and tight-knit groups, friends that they make early in life and keep for decades. The way of ensuring that everyone with the same academic interest stays together and focused on subjects relating to their major, and the fact that people tend to attend a university in their home town really ties to the culture. While traveling throughout Spain, I have seen Spaniards demonstrate a fierce loyalty not only to their geographical area, but to their friends and family. I know that there are Americans like that, too, but definitely to a lesser degree. You can catch me saying, for example, “Yeah, Florida was an okay place to grow up, but I wouldn’t live there for the rest of my life.” I think the university system actually reflects that—a system that allows Sevillanos to stay in Seville and take advantage of a system where they can make lifelong friends who share in their interests.