International Business
2009 Spring Semester - Partner Institution

Accreditation

The Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona is recognized by the Spanish Ministry of Education as a degree granting institution of higher learning.

Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

The Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) was founded in 1968 with the aim of establishing four principles of autonomy: freedom to select teaching staff and create its own study plans, admission for all students and freedom to administer the University's capital.

The UAB offers 78 undergraduate degrees as well as masters, doctorates and continuing education programs in the fields of Humanities, Social Sciences, Health Sciences, Experimental Sciences and Engineering. The University creates important links with institutions, industry and businesses providing the students with a large amount of practical experience helping them to be better prepared as they enter the professional world. It is home to around 50,000 students 3000 of which are international.

As a large university, UAB encompasses several campuses. Students studying at the UAB on CEA’s International Business program will attend classes at la Casa de Convalescencia, a historic building situated in the Barcelona city center. La Casa de Convalescencia, part of the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, is a Modernist complex close to Gaudi's famous Sagrada Familia. The building was completed in 1930 and granted the status of UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. The UAB was given the right to use the building for academic activities in 1969. Today it houses the School of Modern Languages, the UAB Foundation, the Institute of Education Sciences, the PhD and Continuing Education School as well as the Doctor Robert Foundation and the Josep Laporte Library. Students may also have Business classes at UAB’s new Sarria campus, which is opened in January 2009. This campus is located in an affluent financial and educational district of Barcelona that is a 10-minute train ride from Plaza Catalunya. While the location may vary, university services available to CEA students studying at UAB include university ID, library, sports facilities, and campus bookstore.

Classroom Information

• International faculty from Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona will teach your business electives.
• Homework assignments and final exams will be administered.
• Attendance in all classes is mandatory and monitored by each professor.
• Teaching styles in Spain can be very different from those found in the US or Canada. Be prepared to adapt to the different classroom structures and coursework expectations for your school.
• Class size for business electives is a maximum of 40 students.
• You will be in class with international students from the US, Europe, Canada and other parts of the world. Due to the superior mastery of the language required, you will not be in classes with host national students.

Grading

The Spanish grading system is based on a scale of 10, as opposed to 100 in the US system. It would be inaccurate to merely multiply a Spanish grade by 10 to find its US equivalent. Also, please keep in mind that grading varies from subject to subject. For example, in mathematics a student may receive a 10 for completing all the problems correctly, whereas in the humanities, a 7 on an essay is a very acceptable grade. Grading in Spain can be severe and grades of 9 and 10 are quite rare. In addition to listing a numeric grade for each course, transcripts from Spanish universities list a verbal grade.

Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona has released the following chart to assist US Universities in interpreting the Spanish grading scale. Per Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, interpretation of the Spanish grading scale is as follows:

Number Grade	Letter Grade (Electives)	Spanish Verbal Grade (Electives)
10 – 9,5	A+	Sobresaliente
9,4 – 9,0	A	Sobresaliente
8,9 – 8,5	A-	Sobresaliente
8,4 – 8,0	B+	Notable
7,9 – 7,5	B	Notable
7,4 – 7,0	B-	Notable
6,9 – 6,5	C+	Aprobado
6,4 – 5,5	C	Aprobado
5,4 – 5,0	C-	Aprobado
4,9 – 4,5	D+	Suspendido
4,4 – 4,0	D	Suspendido
3,9 – 3,5	D-	Suspendido
3,4 – 0,0	F	Muy Deficiente
NP	NP*	No Presentado

Number Grade	Letter Grade (Language)	Spanish Verbal Grade (Language)
10 – 9,5	A+	Sobresaliente
9,4 – 9,0	A	Sobresaliente
8,9 – 8,5	B+	Notable
8,4 – 8,0	B	Notable
7,9 – 7,5	B-	Notable
7,4 – 7,0	C+	Aprobado
6,9 – 6,5	C	Aprobado
6,4 – 6,0	D+	Suspendido
5,9 – 5,5	D	Suspendido
5,4 – 5,0	D-	Suspendido
4,9 – 4,5	F+	Suspendido
4,4 – 4,0	F	Muy Deficiente
3,9 – 3,5	F-	Muy Deficiente
3,4 – 0,0	E	Muy Deficiente
NP	NP*	No Presentado

Please note that this grading scale is recommended by CEA and Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, but final credit and grade evaluation is ultimately determined by a student’s home university.