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LOSU 2026: what changes with Spain's new university system law
The Ley Orgánica del Sistema Universitario (LOSU) reshapes how Spanish universities are funded and governed. Here's what directly affects current and future students.
The LOSU (Ley Orgánica del Sistema Universitario, Spain's Organic Law on the University System) introduces fundamental changes to how Spanish public universities are funded and governed. It's not a reform that will be felt overnight, but it does set the direction for public universities over the coming years.
More public money for universities
The law sets a minimum public spending floor for universities of 1% of GDP, to be reached progressively by 2030. It's a medium-term investment commitment that, on paper, should translate into more places, more resources and better infrastructure at public universities.
Frozen degree fees, cheaper professional-qualification master's degrees
One of the points with the most direct impact on families' finances: the LOSU guarantees that degree fees will be frozen in real terms (meaning they won't rise faster than inflation), and it provides for a progressive reduction in the price of professional-qualification master's degrees — the ones required to practise a regulated profession, such as General Health Psychology, Law (AbogacÃa) or certain engineering fields.
New faculty roles and governance
The law also reshapes university faculty roles and the governance model of universities, with the stated aim of reducing job insecurity among teaching and research staff and modernising decision-making within each institution.
What this means if you're choosing a degree
In the short term, the most relevant point for anyone choosing what to study is the freeze on degree fees: the part of the tuition cost you can predict most reliably from one year to the next. The rest of the reform — funding and infrastructure — is a deeper change that will show up more in the quality and capacity of public universities' offerings in the coming years.
Compare the real annual price of every degree, public and private, at Vocaria →