Academics

If you intend to spend a semester or academic year abroad, it is important that you understand your college's study abroad policies and how study abroad will fit within your major or minor.

Course Selection & Enrollment

  • To find information on program courses, go to the "academics" tab on the CASA Barcelona page.
  • All courses must be in Spanish (Castellano) or Catalan
  • For assistance in selecting courses, see your faculty or college advisor. (Note: You may earn elective, distributional, minor or major credit depending on your major and college.)
  • You may need to look at courses from a previous semester (i.e.: the most recent spring semester if you want to select classes for a future spring abroad) 

Course Load & Credits

  • Take the equivalent of 15 Cornell credits (30 ECTS) for a full semester, even if it is possible to take fewer and still graduate on time
  • Decisions on the final allocation of credit are made upon successful completion of the course (must earn grade equivalent of a “C” or higher—all courses must award a "letter" grade of 5 or higher on a 0-10 scale).
  • For more information on courses and credits from abroad, including policies regarding start/end dates, refer to the Academic Policies page on the Education Abroad website. 

Transcript & Grades

  • Grades will appear on the Cornell transcript in the same format as they are recorded on the original transcript generated by the host institution. Grades are not factored into the Cornell GPA.
  • For information on how grades appear on the transcript and frequently asked questions, including transcript dates for graduating seniors, please refer to the Transcripts and Credits page on the Education Abroad website.
  • Your program will send your transcript to the Education Abroad Office.

Program-specific information

The typical course load each semester consists of three university courses plus one course offered by the Consortium Center. CASA partners with four distinguished universities whose combined course offerings provide students with an array of opportunities in the humanities, social sciences, physical and natural sciences, art and architecture and business.

Todos los estudiantes deben tomar una combinación de cursos ofrecidos a través de CASA-Barcelona y las universidades asociadas hasta alcanzar un total de 29 – 32 ECTS (European Credit Transfer System). Las clases se organizan de la siguiente manera:

Seminario Cultural

(8 ECTS) Language and Culture Pro Seminar: curso obligatorio para todos los estudiantes compuesto por un módulo de lengua española (escritura académica), otro de lengua catalana, uno de historia y cultura de Cataluña, que incluye actividades académicas y culturales durante el semestre (visitas a museos, conferencias, viajes de estudios y talleres) y un proyecto de investigación, también a desarrollar durante el semestre.

Curso CASA-Barcelona

(6 ECTS): los alumnos deben elegir uno de los cursos ofrecidos por CASA-Barcelona. Dichos cursos son semestrales y están impartidos por el director residente y profesores visitantes de una de las universidades de CASA-Barcelona o de las universidades locales asociadas.

Cursos de las universidades asociadas

(12 – 18 ECTS): los estudiantes deben tomar el resto de sus asignaturas en las universidades locales. Normalmente, 15 – 18 ECTS corresponden a tres cursos universitarios. Es muy importante que cada estudiante consulte con su study abroad advisor tanto antes de venir a Barcelona como durante el proceso de matriculación (registration) para saber cuántos cursos universitarios debe realizar y de cuántos créditos (ECTS), y si recibirá crédito en su universidad de origen por los cursos elegidos.

To find courses, go to the main university websites listed below, and search for their undergraduate degrees (Estudios > Grados) and search for a discipline or look by broad subject area/ámbito de conocimiento, and then choose the degree that would have the courses of interest and look for their “plan de estudios” that outlines what courses “asignaturas” they are offering their students. The required fundamental courses in the first year might not be open, but it is possible to choose from core or elective courses across degrees.  Depending on the field of study, approximately 75% of the classes may be in Catalan with the remainder in Spanish or English. Students are required to take all courses in Spanish or Catalan.  (If you take courses in Catalan, you will find that you have a wider selection of subjects and schedule options.  The Catalan taught at the beginning of the program is often sufficient for students to follow lectures, and most readings would be in Spanish or English. You would be able to have all your exams or papers be in Spanish).

The Universitat de Barcelona, founded in 1455, boasts well over 70,000 students. Offering 75 undergraduate degrees, over 90 doctorate programs and 390 postgraduate courses, the UB is the largest of the ten universities in Catalonia and the second largest in Spain.

The Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona was established in 1968 and has over 50,000 students. The state-of-the art Bellaterra campus, in Cerdanyola del Vallès, is home to most of its departments, institutes and services. 78 degree programs are available at the UAB, covering a wide range of fields, including the humanities and arts, social sciences, health sciences, experimental and technological sciences.

Founded in 1971, the Universitat Polytecnica de Catalunya is a public university that specializes in the fields of architecture, health sciences, engineering, merchant seamanship, economics, and applied mathematics. It offers 68 official undergraduate degrees within its 11 campuses and regional centers, 23 schools, and 42 departments.  Recognized as a Campus of Excellence by the Spanish Ministry of Education, the UPC is at the cutting-edge of research and scholarship.

The Universitat Pompeu Fabra (full year/fall students only) is a dynamic institution that was established in 1990. Today it has 11,000 students, courses in all fields – from experimental, health and life sciences to human and social sciences and technical studies – and an expanding campus in the heart of the city, stretching between the Ramblas and the district of Poblenou, site of the 1992 Olympics.

*Fall semester students will choose courses offered through the UPF and, with prior approval of the student's home university and course professors, the UB, UAB, or UPC. Full year students will choose courses offered through any of the four partner universities. Spring semester students will choose courses offered through the UB, UAB, or UPC. Due to academic calendar differences, UPF courses are not available to spring semester only students.