The Beato Luis Belda University Center, affiliated with CEU San Pablo University, has already filled all places for the Medicine degree, set to begin next September. More than 80% of the admitted students are from the Balearic Islands, predominantly from Mallorca. With this first cohort, the center makes its debut with the aim of consolidating a health sciences faculty on the island with strong territorial roots, aimed at alleviating the shortage of healthcare professionals. Hematologist Antònia Sampol, currently an associate professor at the UIB and head of the Hematology and Hemotherapy service at Son Espases Hospital, will be part of the management team of CEU Beato Luis Belda.

How many times have you heard, thought, or even said, "Yes, Catalan is all well and good, but what's it really good for?" How many times has the conversation ended with a count of speakers, a comparison with English, or a list of supposed career paths? The question seems innocent, but it isn't. It implies a very specific way of understanding the world: only what has an immediate, quantifiable, exportable, and tangible return is valuable. Everything that doesn't fit into that logic is viewed with suspicion. Meanwhile, more than 2,600 kilometers from Palma, at Masaryk University in Brno, there is a full degree program in Catalan Language and Literature that is celebrating its tenth anniversary this academic year, 2025-2026. Ten years. It marked the occasion with a commemorative academic ceremony held on Wednesday, March 4th, with established faculty and graduating classes who have already entered the professional world.

The Eserp business school—the company is based in Palma and has been offering advanced vocational training cycles and master's degrees for over twenty years—also wants to offer university degrees as an affiliated center of the University of Vic (UVic). "We received word of their desire to expand their educational offerings in the Balearic Islands, and we became interested," explains Xisco Enseñat Bibiloni, the center's general manager, who hails from Mallorca. According to Enseñat, the project is still in its very early stages. "We want everything to go smoothly with the relevant authorities, because implementing university law requires consensus and extensive dialogue. We are in contact with all parties involved," he adds. The director emphasizes that the historical relationship with both the University of Vic and the UIB has always been very positive, based on institutional respect.

The Beato Luis Belda University Center, affiliated with CEU San Pablo University, has stated that it will give priority access to students residing in the Balearic Islands, who are expected to obtain higher points in the selection process. However, the measure will only be applied if it is finally implemented in Mallorca: the project is subject to obtaining favorable reports on the quality of the study plans, verification of degrees by the Council of Universities, and final approval by the Government. It has not yet been specified how residency in the Islands will be assessed. Meanwhile, CEU is already working on several options to house students from abroad. It is considering building its own residence hall that would operate as a College of Residence, a plan that already includes three possible locations in Palma, but does not provide further details. During the first year of operation, apartments and residential alternatives would be used to house those who require it, which is estimated to be 30% of the students.

The Socialist Workers' Party (PSIB) and MÁS por Palma have criticized the private medical university project that the Palma regional government and city council approved in record time. Both the Socialists and the eco-sovereignty party believe it is an elitist urban development project that will also exacerbate mobility problems in the area and jeopardize the quality of higher education in Mallorca and the Balearic Islands.

In recent years, the University of the Balearic Islands (UIB) has expanded its educational offerings with the introduction of new degrees. Some are also offered in a blended learning environment in Menorca and Ibiza. Despite these advantages, Menorcan and Ibizan university students who can afford to leave the island choose to enroll on the mainland. Some prioritize an emancipatory experience in a different community. Others, however, are restricted by the price of housing. Miquel Àngel Maria, a Menorcan writer and former island councilor for Culture, knows this well. In 2017, his eldest daughter, Roser, went to Catalonia to study Art History, and this year marks his youngest's third year studying Audiovisual Communication. "For the rest of the islands," he says, "the Balearic Government offers personal income tax deductions if you enroll a child at the UIB in Palma if you leave the island. This measure is very good, but it doesn't compensate for what you have to pay in rent in Mallorca. This ultimately leads many young Menorcans to choose to move to Barcelona, ​​​​which has always been our metro station."

The University of the Balearic Islands (UIB) has seen its results worsen and is now in the 701-800 range of the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), known as the Shanghai ranking, with only ten Spanish universities among the top 500.

A young man from Santa Eulària has launched a crowdfunding campaign to fund his education at a university for which he has received a half-scholarship. According to the GoFundMe platform, this young man has been accepted into Tetr University, a global institution that combines practical learning in seven different countries, including India and the United States.

Rolf Tarrach Siegel (Valencia, 1948) is a professor of quantum physics. He has served as president of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), rector of the University of Luxembourg, and president of the European University Association.