The beneficiaries of the Government's aid for free tuition at the UIB are focused on 87.6%

PalmThe PSIB (Socialist Party of the Balearic Islands) denounced, during the appearance of the Minister of Education, Antoni Vera, before the Balearic Parliament on university policy, the drastic drop in the number of beneficiaries of tuition assistance granted by the Balearic Government. The number of recipients fell from 2,624 in the 2022-2023 academic year to just 326 in 2024-2025, an 8% reduction. It should be noted that in 2022-2023 these were scholarships, while in 2024-2025 they became exemptions, meaning students did not have to make any advance payments. During the same period, the number of beneficiaries of grants from the Ministry of Education also decreased, from 3,914 in 2022-2023 to 2,468 in 2023-2024—a 36.9% drop—and 3,100 in 2024-2025. In his response, Antoni Vera accused the Pact government of having "taken advantage of the Ukrainian decree-law to grant aid without any requirements to everyone" and emphasized that "they left the reserve fund at zero for the 2023-2024 academic year." He argued that the current administration created "a serious system of exemptions, not scholarships," as demanded by the UIB Student Council, and added that students "should not pay any advance." He also asserted that the new model takes into account "income, but also academic excellence and effort," in defense of a "culture of hard work."

PSIB deputy Carles Bona retorted: "Why do you want to use excellence to create exclusion and leave 2,300 people out? Your policy is perverse and ridiculous, because it only reaches 3% of the most needy students." He also questioned: "Why do some students with you have to get a 7 or an 8 to graduate, while others, without financial problems, can do it with a 5? Not everyone is born into the same circumstances, and what is valued is often unequal, even for those who work and study."

The arrival of private universities

The press conference also highlighted the interest of several private universities in establishing themselves in the Balearic Islands. These include the establishment of ADEMA (either as an autonomous university – the University of Mallorca – or affiliated with Isabel I University), the affiliation of the Felipe Moreno Higher Education Center with Nebrija University to offer Nursing programs, and the Luis Belda University Center, affiliated with CEU San Pablo University. The latter intends, if it successfully completes the necessary procedures, to offer Medicine, Nursing, Physiotherapy, and Psychology programs. Pharmacy and Dentistry programs will be launched the following year. Antoni Vera asserted that promoting the presence of private universities is not incompatible with defending public universities. He emphasized that the Government is committed to a model of "coexistence" between public and private institutions and announced that "decisive and immediate" measures will be taken because they "believe in freedom of choice in all areas." Vera pointed out that the Balearic Islands have one of the highest school dropout rates and, at the same time, one of the lowest rates of university graduates in Spain, at around 10 percent, adding that "the more residents of the Islands access higher education, the better it will be for the region."

"If this training can be offered to the UIB (University of the Balearic Islands), perfect, but if there are also private centers that complement the public offering, even better," he argued. He justified this strategy with the need to retain young talent, since almost half of the Balearic students move away from the archipelago and end up settling in cities on the mainland where they pursue their studies. According to Vera, this situation is "unsustainable" for the Balearic education system, and the investment involved in training students outside the islands must "give back" to the local productive sector, since otherwise, it is an operation that "is not profitable." In this context, the Minister reiterated that the Ministry's lines of action will focus on expanding the university offerings in the Balearic Islands, guaranteeing students' freedom of choice, and strengthening the public university system. In response to the PSIB's comments regarding the UIB's refusal to transfer internship positions in university hospitals to private centers, Vera replied: "They belong to the UIB. They will only go to a private center if the UIB decides so and considers that it doesn't need them. An agreement is being negotiated between IB-Salut (the Balearic Islands Health Service), the Department of Education, and the UIB to access placements in public hospitals."

Opposition groups have emphasized that private universities are not for everyone, given their high cost, which most families cannot afford. "Private universities don't benefit everyone. You said that the UIB is a university 'for everyone,' and the Vox deputy, Sergio Rodríguez, stated that private universities are for those who can afford them," criticized Maria Ramon, MÉS deputy for Mallorca. Meanwhile, Joana Gomila, MÉS representative for Menorca, criticized Vera for not being the one who presented the bill to create the University of Mallorca. The center aims to promote the Escola Universitària ADEMA, which until now offered degrees affiliated with the UIB., from which he has already requested independence. According to Gomila, Vera allowed the PP to present the proposal, when it should have been him, as Minister of Universities, who led the initiative he advocates.

Rodríguez (Vox) has defended the entry of new private universities into the Balearic Islands' educational ecosystem. "The educational problem isn't just a matter of money; there's a structural problem. The major problem at the university level is that the students who arrive are functionally illiterate in two languages. The rate of reading comprehension difficulties is scandalous, not to mention the number of mistakes," he stated.