The university course starts in Málaga with 386 degrees and more than 43,000 students

The notes of 'Gaudeamus Igitur', the parade of academic staff with their characteristic mortarboards, and the speeches of the rectors have recently marked the beginning of the 2025-2026 academic year at universities. This is an appointment with higher education that kicks off in Málaga with significant new developments due to the emergence of three private universities joining the two public ones. A total of 43,351 students have enrolled, who will be able to study some of the 386 degrees (including bachelor's degrees, double degrees, master's, and doctorates) offered by these five centers, according to information collected by this newspaper.

The arrival of private institutions, including Universidad Alfonso X el Sabio Mare Nostrum (UAX Mare Nostrum), Universidad Tecnológica del Atlántico-Mediterráneo (Utamed) – the first online private university in Andalusia – and Universidad Europea – which will celebrate the opening of its academic year this Monday, October 6 – along with the solidity of the University of Málaga (UMA) and the local branch of the National University of Distance Education (UNED), have enhanced the educational offerings in higher education in the province.

There is an increase in the number of centers as well as in the degrees available, which are adapting to meet the demands of a changing labor market driven by the rise and development of technology. Thus, degrees are offered in Law with a focus on ICT, Digital Economy and Business Intelligence, Digital Communication and Journalism, or Human Nutrition and Dietetics at Utamed; Pharmacy, Nutrition, Computing and AI, or Video Game Design at UAX; and Biomedicine and Dentistry at Universidad Europea.

Degrees in health and technology fields are the most demanded by students, according to data provided by the universities themselves. At UMA, the most requested degrees in absolute terms are Medicine, Nursing, Psychology, Law, and Primary Education, while in terms of the percentage of first-choice applications over offered places, the order is: double degree in Criminology and Psychology, Cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Sports Science, and Nursing. At UNED, the most demanded are Psychology, Law, Early Childhood Education, Criminology, and Business Administration (ADE).

At the private institutions, at Utamed, the most requested by students are the degree in Human Nutrition and Dietetics; the degree in Psychology; the master's degree in Educational Technologies; the degree in Law with a mention in ICT; the degree in Primary Education; and the master's degree in Artificial Intelligence. Nursing, Dentistry, Pharmacy, and Physiotherapy and Sports are most in demand at UAX, where, according to the university, there is also high demand in Business & Tech degrees, closely connected to the professional needs of the Málaga Tech Park (formerly PTA).

At Universidad Europea, the most demanded degrees in descending order are: Dentistry, Psychology, Physiotherapy, and ADE.

The two public universities, which have been established in the province for several decades, capture the largest percentage of students, accounting for 94% of the total. At UMA – where the enrollment period is still open – there are currently 31,382 undergraduate and 3,226 master's students. Regarding their origin, there are no updated data for the current course, but if last year's data are analyzed, approximately one quarter of them are from the province of Málaga. At UNED, about 5,000 students are enrolled in regulated degree and master's programs, of which 40% are from the capital and the rest from the province, and 1,200 in proprietary courses, with students from all over the national territory.

In the case of the private institutions, which have just begun their journey and thus understandably capture a smaller percentage of students, they represent 6% of the total. Among them, Utamed, newly created after years of procedures and which inaugurated its new headquarters in the capital's PTA last Tuesday, has the most students with 1,500, of which 37.8% of the enrollees are from Andalusia, 2% are foreigners, and the rest from other communities. At UAX, of the nearly half a thousand students, the origin is varied: Málaga and its province, other Andalusian provinces – especially Granada, Almería, and Córdoba –, the rest of Spain, and 10% foreign students, according to the data provided.

At Universidad Europea, 31% of its students this academic year (169) are international, while the rest (374) are Andalusian, most of them – 290 – from the province of Málaga, predominantly residing in the capital.

These students will receive education from a faculty that totals 3,087. Most of them, 2,694, are part of the University of Málaga, while UNED has 183 distributed across its three campuses in the province: the capital, Marbella, and Ronda.

In the case of the private institutions, the number of faculty members is smaller, which is due to their recent start and the fact that they only have first-year students, so their staff will increase in the coming years as new degrees are also introduced. At Utamed, there are 80 faculty members, of whom 65% hold doctorates; at UAX, about fifty professors will teach during the first semester of the academic year, while at Universidad Europea there will be 80.