The University of Alcalá (UAH) is a public university located in Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of the longest standing European universities which dates back to 1293. In 1499, Cardinal Cisneros expanded the institution’s studies with the creation of a Higher College, which would later become the University of Alcalá, one of the first examples of a model university town.

Today the University of Alcalá is a modern institution, founded in 1977, which offers more than 40 degrees, 46 official masters and 26 PhD programs in five branches of knowledge: Arts and Humanities, Law and Social Sciences, Sciences, Health Sciences, and Engineering and Architecture, adapted to the European Higher Education Area.

The UAH preserves its traditional humanities faculties, a testimony to the university's efforts to promote and diffuse the Spanish language through both its studies and the Cervantes Prize, which is awarded annually by the King and Queen of Spain in the Paraninfo (Great Hall). The University has added to its time-honoured education in the humanities and social sciences new degree subjects in scientific fields such as health sciences or engineering, spread out across its 3 campus, 9 faculties, 23 departments and 4 associated teaching hospitals where students may do their internships and one Science Technology Park. The University is firmly committed to research, technological innovation, and collaboration with business and industry and also to defense of transparency, human rights and sustainability, and environmental protection (one of the most sustainable universities in the world: 4th worldwide in “Urban Campuses” and in the top 10 for “Energy and climate change”, according to GreenMetric, and 3rd in the world, according to Coolmyplanet).

Today, the UAH is a modern university and one of the most prestigious in Spain.  One of the top 500 in the QS World University Ranking, it has been awarded the highest rating for its excellence in teaching, internationalization, innovation, equipment and  infrastructure, and social commitment, according to the QS Stars international university quality accreditation system.  The UAH was also included in the Arts and Humanities ranking, which lists the 400 best universities in the world, and among the 250 best Universities in the world in the subjects of English Language and Literature and Modern Languages.

The UAH is an institution with a clear international vocation, offering its students 1,500 study exchange opportunities at more than 400 universities in 55 countries. According to the QS World University Ranking, the University of Alcalá is also Spain’s second best at attracting international students. The UAH obtains maximum scores for international mobility (incoming students and outgoing students) and external fundraising for research, both in the Global Ranking as well as in the specific knowledge areas evaluated in the U-Multirank. It offers various masters degrees entirely in English and the option of completing a doctoral thesis in English in a wide variety of fields.

The university is well known for its active support and promotion of Spanish language and culture and every year the Cervantes Prize, considered the most prestigious prize in Spanish literature. It is, in addition, an international benchmark for Spanish language teaching. A thousand students from 50 countries study Spanish every year in the classrooms at  Alcalingua, the University of Alcalá’s Center for Spanish Language Teaching,  accredited by the Cervantes Institute for examining the  official Spanish Diploma in Spanish as a  Second Language (DELE).