The UIB warns of the commercialization of health studies in the face of the arrival of private degrees

PalmThe Faculty of Nursing and Physiotherapy at the University of the Balearic Islands (UIB) has spoken out against the imminent implementation of Nursing and Physiotherapy programs at private universities in the Balearic Islands without joint planning with the public university or the healthcare system. In a statement, the Faculty Board warns that the training of healthcare professionals "must respond to a national and regional plan, and not simply to a business opportunity." The document cautions that the creation of new private universities without coordination with the UIB and the healthcare system weakens "the collective capacity to guide training according to the real health needs of the Balearic population, and not according to the logic of profitability and the market." Therefore, the Faculty believes that "there are red lines that should not be crossed if we want to preserve a fair, sustainable, and high-quality education and healthcare system."

In recent years, the statement notes, the Balearic Islands have experienced a proliferation of private initiatives to offer Nursing and Physiotherapy programs, almost always as centers affiliated with universities outside the archipelago. These projects, according to the Faculty, are presented with an attractive narrative based on high demand, modernization, and a shortage of professionals, but they conceal "uncomfortable questions about the country's model, equity, and the use of public resources." Given this scenario, the Faculty of Nursing and Physiotherapy at the UIB—the only public faculty that trains nurses and physiotherapists in the Islands—considers it essential to open "a calm but forceful debate."

More students, but with real limits

The Faculty acknowledges the shortage of healthcare professionals, but points out that the UIB has progressively increased the numerus clausus provided it has the necessary resources to guarantee quality training. However, it warns that there are clear structural limitations in an island territory with a finite healthcare network. The experience of other regions of Spain is, according to the statement, clear: the accelerated expansion of private health science degrees has strained the teaching capacity of public hospitals and health centers, with more students per unit, less real supervision, and increasing pressure on professionals who are already working "at their limit." In this context, the Faculty warns that thinking the number of students can be increased indefinitely without degrading the quality of training is "simply unrealistic." Another central theme of the statement is equity in access to studies. The public university, the Faculty reminds us, is governed by academic merit, with entry requirements for Nursing and Physiotherapy among the highest at the UIB. Conversely, private projects advertised in Mallorca offer lower entry grades and high tuition fees, unattainable for many families. The Faculty poses a direct question: what message is sent when a person with greater financial resources can access the same degree with a grade far lower than that required at the public university? According to the statement, this is not expanding opportunities, but rather deepening inequalities.

Clinical placements and public resources

The text also focuses on what it describes as unfair competition and the misuse of public resources. Any degree in Nursing or Physiotherapy requires thousands of hours of clinical practice in hospitals, health centers, and social and healthcare facilities within the public system, which already provide training for UIB students. Investment in teaching structures, supervision, and coordination falls primarily on the public system and, according to the Faculty, ends up partially benefiting private educational projects with a legitimate profit motive. The statement questions whether it is reasonable for the public healthcare system to become "the structural business platform for educational companies and hospital or real estate groups." The Faculty also challenges the argument of a lack of professionals as justification for the proliferation of private degrees. According to the statement, the underlying problem is not so much a shortage of graduates as a lack of working conditions, salaries, and living standards that would allow them to remain in the region. Many professionals trained in the Balearic Islands emigrate to other regions or countries with greater stability and recognition. Without improving these conditions, the Faculty warns, training more graduates will not solve the problem and could turn the university into "a production line of professionals for a global market."

Defending the role of the public university

The statement asserts that the university is not merely a degree-producing institution, but a space for critical thinking, research, and engagement with the region. The UIB, through its Faculty of Nursing and Physiotherapy, highlights its track record of training professionals for the hospital, primary care, and social and healthcare sectors with a vocation for public service. Finally, the Faculty establishes clear "red lines": training in professions linked to human rights, such as healthcare, cannot be subordinated to ability to pay or business strategies. Therefore, it calls for joint planning between the Government, the UIB, and the Health Service; guarantees of equity; protection of educational quality; and recognition of the strategic role of the public university. In a context where public healthcare is once again recognized as a pillar of social cohesion, the statement concludes that weakening the public model "through the back door" is deeply contradictory and argues that "defending the public university is not corporatism."