In 2009 the Spanish government launched a policy initiative, Estrategia Universidad 2015, aiming to boost the competitiveness of Spanish universities. Internationalisation is one of the main goals of the strategy, which:
•encourages cooperation with foreign universities
•provides a framework for the quality of services offered to international students and academics, including residence and language courses
•provides incentives for the launch of international Masters and PhDs, including programmes in English and French
•sets as a goal the increase of the number of foreign professors, researchers and students
•enhances integration into the European Higher Education Area and the emerging Latin American higher education space
•provides quality assurance mechanisms for international recognition and accreditation of qualifications obtained in Spain
Two important aspects of the strategy were the establishment of Fundación Universidad in 2008, responsible for the international promotion of Spanish universities and the coordination of their international strategies, and the launch of the Campus de Excelencia Internacional programme in 2009, which includes 15 projects with a total budget of €204m.
Spain is already a leader in internationalisation. According to 2010-11 data released by the European Commission last May, Spain sends and receives more Erasmus students than any other European country. Since its introduction in 1987, the Erasmus programme has transformed the culture of Spanish universities, incentivising them to establish international offices and create their own exchange programmes with other regions apart from Europe, using Erasmus as a model. The launch of the Alfa Puentes programme will probably help them to increase their presence in Latin America.
Ongoing efforts to make the system more competitive internationally might be undermined by the recently elected government's plan to cut spending on education, a decision met with anger by the academic community. The government aims to reduce public spending on education from 4.9% to 3.9% of GDP in five years, for a target saving of €10bn ($12.4bn). As in the case of the UK, austerity brings with it a rise in tuition fees, though at a much more modest level. The government has asked local governments to raise fees by an average rate of €500 ($620) per student and imposed restrictions in the allocation of scholarships.