Studying in Las Palmas: University, Admission, Costs and Housing

In short: At the Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC) you apply with an Abitur or Matura directly to the university, not through a regional joint procedure as in Andalusia. Most degree programmes recently had no admission hurdle above the minimum grade; it only gets tight in the health subjects. Depending on the subject, tuition costs 9.47 to 14.59 euros per ECTS. What is expensive in Las Palmas is rent and flights home.

The ULPGC: campuses, subjects and language of instruction

The ULPGC is the public university of the eastern Canary Islands. For 2026/27 it offered 52 Grados, 38 of them as on-campus degrees on Gran Canaria. A Grado is the Spanish bachelor’s degree and usually lasts four years with 240 ECTS.

The university is spread across several sites, and your choice of subject decides where you spend your everyday life:

• Campus de Tafira: the main campus in the hills above the city. This is home to the engineering schools, computer science, architecture, economics and business, law and the natural sciences.
• Campus del Obelisco: in the middle of the city, with the humanities and education sciences.
• Campus de San Cristóbal: medicine and the other health subjects, in the south of the city next to the hospital.
• Montaña Cardones: veterinary medicine in Arucas, in the north of the island.
• Lanzarote and Fuerteventura: branch sites, offering nursing and tourism among others.

The ULPGC has its rectorate on Calle Juan de Quesada in the old town of Vegueta. It is known for marine sciences (Ciencias del Mar), tourism, engineering, veterinary medicine and the health subjects. Veterinary medicine is only available here in the Canary Islands.

Teaching is in Spanish. In its admission documents the university does not require a specific language certificate for the Grado, but from the first semester you write exams, assignments and sit oral exams in Spanish. Realistically you need a solid B2 for that. If you are not there yet, it is better to plan a year of language courses before your degree. The university has its own language centre, the Aula de Idiomas.

Admission with an Abitur or Matura: directly to the university

The Canary Islands do not have a joint application portal. You apply to each of the two public universities separately, so to the ULPGC and, if you want, separately to the Universidad de La Laguna on Tenerife. In both cases the basis is the same certificate.

1. Apply for the UNEDasiss certificate

   UNEDasiss is the office of the Spanish distance university UNED that converts your Abitur or Matura into the Spanish grading system. The 2026 application window ran from 4 February to 1 December. Without this certificate the university will not accept your application.

2. Check whether you need subject exams

   Your converted grade goes up to a maximum of 10 points. The nota de admisión (admission score), however, goes up to 14: you can only earn the missing 4 points through up to two subject exams, the UNED PCE. Which subjects count how much for which degree programme is set by the ULPGC in a weighting table.

3. Preinscripción (application) in June

   In 2026 the ordinary application ran from 12 June to 2 July, online and with up to six degree programmes in a fixed order of preference. You compete in the general quota, together with Spanish school leavers.

4. Allocation and enrolment

   In July 2026 there were four allocation rounds between 13 and 31 July, followed by extraordinary allocations on 4, 17 and 23 September and on 2, 7 and 13 October. The last day to enrol was 16 October 2026.

The university publishes the dates for 2027/28 in spring. Expect a similar rhythm, but only rely on the official announcement. The so-called early application in March and April is aimed at pupils from schools in the province of Las Palmas and is not meant for you. How UNEDasiss, the PCE and grade conversion work in detail is explained in the guide Studying in Spain.

How high are the notas de corte?

The nota de corte is the score of the last applicant who got a place the previous year. It is not a fixed threshold but changes every year. For 2025/26, after the eleventh and final allocation, the ULPGC published these values for the general quota:

Degree programme	Nota de corte 2025/26
Medicine	12.594
Nursing (Gran Canaria)	11.810
Veterinary medicine	11.174
Physiotherapy	10.942
Biotechnology	10.873
Primary teacher training	10.111
Sports science	9.872
Business administration, law, computer science, tourism, Ciencias del Mar, architecture	5.000 (minimum grade)

The table shows the pattern: in most subjects, including almost all engineering degrees, everyone who had the minimum grade of 5 got in by the end. This fits with the fact that in August 2026 the university had filled only 81 percent of its first-year places. For medicine, nursing, veterinary medicine and physiotherapy, on the other hand, you need scores above 10 and therefore good subject exams are a must.

What does studying at the ULPGC cost?

Prices are set by the Gobierno de Canarias by decree for both public universities. The relevant one is Decreto 177/2022, which by its own wording remains in force until it is amended. The Universidad de La Laguna lists it as extended on its enrolment page for 2026/27. The price per ECTS depends on how demanding your subject is in terms of lab and practical work (level of experimentality) and on how many times you have enrolled in a subject.

Level and examples at the ULPGC	1st enrolment	2nd enrolment	60 ECTS per year
Level 1: medicine, veterinary medicine, nursing, engineering, computer science, architecture, Ciencias del Mar	14.59 euros	26.26 euros	875.40 euros
Level 2: sports science	12.63 euros	22.73 euros	757.80 euros
Level 3: business administration, law, economics, tourism, teacher training, translation	10.16 euros	18.29 euros	609.60 euros
Level 4: history, Hispanic studies	9.47 euros	17.05 euros	568.20 euros

On top of that come a one-off 36.08 euros for opening your file and, for everyone under 28, 1.12 euros of student insurance (seguro escolar) per year. The degree certificate at the end costs 146.56 euros. If you fail, you pay almost double on the next attempt, and on the third enrolment 34.48 to 49.49 euros per ECTS.

The decree provides reductions for, among others, large families with a Spanish large-family card (50 percent or completely free), people with a recognised disability of 33 percent or more, and scholarship holders. If you complete a subject with distinction (matrícula de honor), you get a discount the following year. The universities may give up to 3 percent off if you pay everything at once; otherwise you pay in instalments. A rule like the one in Andalusia, which makes passed credits almost free the following year, does not exist in the Canary Islands.

Enrolment: what you need

Enrolment (matrícula) takes place online, and you upload your documents via the ULPGC document platform. Your place is only secure once you have paid at least the first instalment on time. Have these ready:

• ID card or passport, plus your NIE (foreigner identification number) as soon as you have it
• the UNEDasiss certificate with your admission score
• a bank account for the direct debit of the instalments
• for health subjects, sports science and teacher training, the additional documents the university requires for these degree programmes

Housing for several years: Tafira or the city by the sea?

Las Palmas is one of the more expensive university cities in the country. Idealista reports an asking price of 14.6 euros per square metre for September 2026, 4.6 percent more than a year earlier. A 70 square metre flat therefore costs around 1,020 euros excluding utilities. In the neighbourhoods by the beach you compete with holiday rentals and with people who work remotely.

The most important decision is the location, because between Tafira and the sea there is half an hour by bus and a few hundred metres of altitude:

• Tafira and surroundings: short trip to the main campus, quiet, green, not much going on in the evening. Practical for engineering and business students who spend a lot of time in the library.
• Guanarteme and Santa Catalina: right by the city beach Las Canteras, surf schools, bars, many international flatmates. The most expensive and most sought-after area.
• Triana and Vegueta: the old town with pedestrian zone, market and nightlife streets, good for Campus Obelisco and San Cristóbal.
• Schamann and Escaleritas: simple residential neighbourhoods halfway up the hill, cheaper, with bus connections in both directions.

For a full degree it is worth comparing a flatshare with a flat of your own. Most students live in a flatshare (piso compartido) and pay considerably less per room than for a studio. If you stay longer than a year, insist on a regular residential tenancy contract and do not sign a seasonal contract: for residential tenancies the deposit is limited to one month’s rent, and in the Canary Islands the landlord must lodge it with the Instituto Canario de la Vivienda. More on this in Finding a flat in Spain.

University residences

The ULPGC runs its own residences: a hall of residence, apartments and bungalows on the Tafira campus and another building in the city. In the Campus de Tafira residence, a single room with meals most recently cost 674.71 euros per month, or 555.18 euros with a university subsidy. Cleaning is included. For 2026/27, applications ran from 18 May to 10 July 2026, and the first allocation came on 20 July. If you do not confirm an allocated place within three days, you lose it. For the first year this is a good solution, because you get to know the city first and do not commit to a tenancy agreement from afar.

Monthly budget in Las Palmas

The university itself is the smallest item. The following table is based on a room in a flatshare. Tuition fees and rental prices per square metre are backed by sources; all other rows are our estimated ranges for a frugal to normal lifestyle.

Item	Per month	Basis
Room in a flatshare including utilities	380 to 550 euros	Estimate, more by the beach
Groceries and canteen	200 to 280 euros	Estimate
Bus	0 to 30 euros	free in 2026 with a frequent-traveller pass
Mobile phone and share of internet	20 to 35 euros	Estimate
Leisure, sport, going out	100 to 180 euros	Estimate
Tuition fees, spread out	47 to 73 euros	Decree, 60 ECTS on first enrolment
Savings for flights	40 to 80 euros	Estimate, two to three flights home a year
Total	around 790 to 1,230 euros

You can work out how the individual items add up for your situation with the calculator at Cost of living in Spain.

Working alongside your studies

As an EU citizen you may work without a work permit. For that you need the NIE, a social security number and a bank account. Jobs are mainly in hospitality, hotels and customer service, where German is a real advantage on Gran Canaria. Hourly wages are low, and many degree programmes require attendance in the morning or afternoon: count on some extra income, not on funding your studies. The routes available are explained in Working in Spain. For a full degree, Auslands-BAföG (German state funding for studying abroad) may be an option; the office responsible for Spain is the Studierendenwerk Heidelberg.

Transport and life in the city

Las Palmas has no tram and no metro; public transport runs on buses, which are called guaguas here. In the city the yellow Guaguas Municipales run, and across the island the Global buses. In 2026, public transport in the Canary Islands is free for frequent travellers with a pass; the exact conditions are set by the island government. Along the sea you get around well by bike, but hardly anyone cycles up to Tafira voluntarily.

With almost 400,000 inhabitants, the city is the largest in the Canary Islands and works all year round, not just in the season. You have the kilometre-long city beach Las Canteras, an old town, a large port and a climate without hot summers and without winter. At the weekend you are quickly in the mountains or in the south: ideas are in Gran Canaria sights and Beaches on Gran Canaria. What to expect from the climate is shown in Canary Islands weather.

The honest downside: you live on an island, several hours’ flight from home. A spontaneous weekend with your family is expensive, and at Christmas and in summer flight prices go up. Then there is the cloud cover that often hangs over the north of the island in summer, which the locals call panza de burro. If you expect the postcard weather of the south, you will be surprised in the first few months. And the job market for graduates in the Canary Islands is narrower than on the mainland.

Paperwork for a degree lasting several years

If you stay for four years, you set yourself up like someone moving abroad for good. There are four things you should get done in the first few weeks:

• NIE: you need it for enrolment, tenancy agreement, job and phone contract. The process is explained in Applying for an NIE.
• Padrón (registration at the town hall): especially important in the Canary Islands, because the 75 percent resident discount on flights and ferries between the islands and to the mainland depends on it. Here is how: Empadronamiento.
• Bank account: a Spanish account makes rent, university instalments and Bizum easier. See Opening a bank account.
• Health insurance: The European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) covers medically necessary treatment in the public system. For several years you should check with your health insurer how you stay covered. The options on the ground are listed in Health insurance in Spain.

Only coming for one or two semesters as an exchange student? Then read Erasmus in Las Palmas.

Frequently asked questions

Cover image: Matti Mattila from Helsinki, Finland · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0