With the recent changes in the educational policies, education as a sector in Portugal is becoming popular in the international community
Higher education in Portugal is divided into two subsystems: university and non-university (polytechnic education and other higher education schools), and it is provided in autonomous public universities, private universities, public or private polytechnic institutions and higher education institutions of other types.

The university system has a strong theoretical basis and is highly research-oriented; the non-university system provides a more practical training and is profession-oriented.


Degrees in some fields such as medicine, law, natural sciences, economics, psychology or veterinary are university. Other fields like engineering, management, education, agriculture, sports, or humanities are found both in university and polytechnic systems. Nursing, preschool education, accountancy, or paramedic degrees are only offered in the polytechnic system.

The two systems of higher education (university and polytechnic) are linked and it is possible to transfer from one to the other by extraordinary competition. It is also possible to transfer from a public institution to a private one and vice-versa.


Two main systems of higher education:

The university system, which is the oldest, has its origins in the 13th century. It is composed of 13 public universities, one public university institute and several private universities.

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). It is composed of 15 state-run polytechnic institutes and several private similar institutions.


The state-run universities are governed by a Rector, and are groupings of faculties and university institutes. 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). The universities are regulated by the Ministry of Science and 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 colleges, institutes and schools. They have been created across the country after 1980.


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 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 is has being widely contested by students (many lost an academic year with the change), and several universities had disrepute the concept by introducing integrated master degrees in several courses.

Continued.. Higher Education In Portugal Part-2 Part-3