University students Spaniards studying away from home In September, they will face one of the steepest slopes ever recorded. And with rent prices at historic levels, they will have to take refuge in the basic products of the basket that have increased the least to ease the cost of this academic year, which could end up being one of the highest in history.
Last year, a total of 1,722,247 students They began their university studies in Spain. Of these, around 353,000 enrolled in a province other than their usual place of residence and 206,000 did so in another autonomous community. In other words, diaspora students already represent more than 30% of the total university population.
This academic year 2024/2025, university students are doing They will be able to save money on their tuition feessince its price has dropped again compared to the previous year. Indeed, compared to 2015-2016, first registration credits are already 25% cheaper. However, this will probably be the only good news they will receive.
Accommodation
The main “cost” that young university students from the diaspora will have to face at the beginning of this course will be that of housing. Renting an apartment individually, compared to 2023, is 14% more expensive in Madrid and 11% in Barcelonathe two major national university centers.
Other cities that usually attract students from other provinces and regions are not immune to this increase, as is the case in Salamanca (8% more), Valladolid (8.5% more) or Valence (16.2% more).
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They also go up “shared apartments”. Renting with friends is 6% more expensive than last year, according to the latest Compracasa report. “From the 350 to 400 euros” paid on average last year, they have gone up to “more than 424 euros per person” for this courseTo stop this price increase, according to the aforementioned portal, the supply of student rental apartments would have to increase by at least 55,000 units.
“In cities like Madrid or Barcelona, many young people share an apartment paying between 500 and 600 euros. Even more so in some cases because they cannot find anything more affordable. The situation is particularly aggravated in cities with a high university population, such as Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Seville, where the pressure on the real estate market is even greater due to tourist rentals, which drive demand to the outskirts,” he says. Francois Fernandezdirector of the real estate network in Spain.
“As in all the most sought-after areas of large cities, the number of students is very high. As OECD data shows, Spain is gradually increasing its level of education and there are more and more young university students, who are the most interacting with this type of rental. This situation increases the demand for rental housing searches, putting pressure on the scarce supply,” he adds on this subject. Maria MatosFotocasa spokesperson.
Although the supply of rooms has increased on the main rental portals, in particular because it is a much more profitable product than traditional rentals – almost three percentage points more profitable – the volume remains low. Moncloa (Madrid, 11.5%), Arguelles (Madrid, 10.5%), The Raval (Madrid, 11%), Benimaclet (Valence, 14%) and Algiers (Valencia, 12%) are the neighborhoods that lead the increase in room rental prices in Spain.
Students in a classroom at the start of an exam, on the first day of the University Access Assessment (EvAU), at the Complutense University of Madrid.
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“The high price of full or traditional rentals, the increase in the profitability of housing when renting by rooms and the legal security offered to owners are the causes that explain the increase in supply,” explains the Fotocasa spokesperson.
The option of student residences does not cover the market either. In Spain, according to the Sector Observatory Informa DBK, there are 1,093 university residenceswhich offer a total of 110,368 placesa figure that, even for the government, is low.
“As OECD data shows, Spain is gradually increasing its level of education and there are more and more young university students,” said María Matos, spokesperson for Fotocasa.
The Ministry of Housing has focused on this situation. Together with the other portfolios competent in the matter, from the property led by Isabel Rodríguez, they are working to increase the number of places available in the public sphere.
At the same time, they are considering a rule that would require private universities to build a residence attached to the educational complex to avoid “straining” the market.
A diet of rice and pasta
In addition to housing costs, there is also food costs, which in the case of young people are covered by the cheapest products in the basket, such as rice, stick And eggs, due to the high price of fresh produce.
This is indicated by the Food Consumption Report 2023, prepared by the Ministry of Agriculture. Young self-employed people, according to this data, are those who have the highest contribution of human resources per capita. ricewith around 5 kilos per person per year, well above the national average of 3.75 kilos per person.
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They also excel in stickIts consumption is 6.5 kilos per person per year, more than two kilos more than the national average, while in eggs, its consumption amounts to 10 kilos per person per year, almost two kilos more than the average.
In the diet of young people there are also other elements above average. These are prepared meals – they consume more than 16 kilos per year – cereals, legumes and fruits and vegetables provided that they are processed, that is, in soups, creams or already processed.
We are talking about products that individual format, they usually do not arrive at two euros, a scenario that will not change much compared to the previous year: according to the CPI, all these products have barely increased by 1%, compared to 2.5% for food inflation. The exception is processed legumes, which have increased by more than 5%.
Another story will be the section costseven if it will not have too much impact on young people: they generally do not consume it. And even less if prices continue to rise as in recent years.
According to the report, they are the ones who acquire the least fresh fruit. In addition, their low consumption of potatoes and fish also stands out.
In meat, they barely touch the national average consumption. Their worst record is that of oil, a product that last year exceeded 10 euros per liter: young people are those who buy it in the smallest proportion. They will still find that the liter will cost them 25% more than last year.
Lower tuition fees
By comparison, what has seen a significant decline since the 2015-16 academic year—the first year of the public university price statistics series—is the price of college credits. Specifically, first-time enrollment is now 25 percent cheaper than it was nearly a decade ago.
In Spain, the cheapest credits are those for careers related to business, the administration And the rightat 13.72 euros for the credit of the first registration. On the other hand, the most expensive are those of computer sciencewhich reach 17.31 euros. The average price of a university loan in Spain is 15.49 euros.
By the autonomous communities, Navarre (19.29 euros), Madrid (18.54 euros) and Catalonia (18.14 euros) are the most expensive to study at university, while Galicia (11.70 euros), Asturias (12.34 euros) and Canary Islands (12.50 euros) are the cheapest.
