Portugal - types of higher education institutions

The Portuguese higher education system is organized, according to Lei de Bases do Sistema Educativo (law that establishes the general framework of the educational system, briefly designated as LBSE) and Regime Jurídico das Instituições do Ensino Superior ( Legal Regime of Higher Education Institutions, briefly designated as RJIES), as a binary system that integrates the university and the polytechnic systems. As a consequence of these systems, a Higher Education Institution (HEI) comprises universities and polytechnics institutions.

University has a more academic nature and less professional oriented strand. It is permanently focused on the promotion of investigation and on the creation of knowledge, in order to guarantee a solid cultural and scientific preparation and to give technical training that allows its students to exercise all kinds of cultural and professional activities, promoting the development of critical analysis, as well as conception and innovation skills.

Polytechnic is always orientated towards applied investigation and development, focusing on the understanding and solution of exact problems, aiming to provide a solid technical and cultural training at a high level and to develop the ability to innovate and to critically analyse and teach theoretical and practical scientific knowledge, as well as its applications regarding the exercise of professional activities.

Despite this binary division of the Portuguese higher education system, though in exceptional form, there are some polytechnic schools integrated in universities.

On the other hand, the Portuguese higher education system includes public higher education, consisting of the institutions that belong to the Portuguese State and the foundations created through RJIES, and private higher education, consisting of institutions belonging to private entities and cooperatives.
The A3ES aims at guaranteeing the fulfilment of the minimal requirements leading to the official recognition of higher education institutions and their study cycles.

In the Portuguese higher education system there is also an institution geared to award all degrees and diplomas through distance learning (e-learning) called Universidade Aberta (Open University).

Like all other HEI, Universidade Aberta must submit to A3ES (Higher Education Evaluation and Accreditation Agency) for the preliminary accreditation of study cycles in operation and posterior registration by the supervising Ministry of Education and Science, namely by DGES (Directorate-General for Higher Education).

There are also special HEI linked with the military and the police (according to Decree-Law No. 37/2008 of 5th of March). These state institutions, which are under the Ministry of Education and Science and the Ministry of National Defence, are Academia da Força Aérea (Air Force Academy), Academia Militar (Military Academy), Escola Naval (Naval School), Instituto Superior de Ciências Policiais e Segurança Interna (Higher Institute of Police Sciences and Internal Security) and Escola de Serviço de Saúde Militar (School of Military Health Service).

The universities award Licenciado, Mestre and Doutor degrees and the polytechnic institutes only award Licenciado and Mestre degrees.