Universidad Camilo José Cela

Based in the Spanish capital of Madrid, UCJC is a private university, which uses its foundation date of 2000 to bill itself as "The first university of the 21st century".

Named for the 1989 Nobel Prize winner for literature, who laid the foundation stone, it operated until 2023 from a main campus in the Villafranca district and a mansion on Calle Almagro. A new purpose-built campus with capacity for 2,500 students, billed as the most sustainable in Spain, has now opened in the central Castellana district, with fresh facilities for the school of health added at Villafranca.

Proclaiming that "College students are not looking for a conventional educational. Traditional frames of reference restrict creativity and imagination," it has a mission to "serve society by training professionals of the future and preparing them for new challenges". It does this by offering students an ‘experiential and global educational model’, which will help them to "find your way to change the world".

Its faculties of communication and humanities, education, health, and technology and science offer more than 40 degree courses. Most provision is in English, assisted by annual groups of Fulbright-funded language assistants.

Distinctive elements in specialised provision include marine studies, on board the schooner Cervantes Saavedra, based in Valencia. This offers training for both recreational and professional sailing. Meanwhile, equine studies offers courses in horse riding and related disciplines, such as dressage and show jumping.

Notable alumni include Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, who lectured at UCJC and completed a PhD, and the footballer Juan Mata, who graduated in sport and physical education with journalism.