Student accommodation
Colegial
A colegial is a university student or graduate who belongs to a colegio mayor, a Spanish hall of residence with a formative programme. Decree 2780/1973 sets out three kinds: senior colegiales, with at least a year there, who have earned it; residents; and affiliated colegiales, who take part without living in.
Also known ascolegiala · resident colegial · colegial mayor
What it is, exactly
The word has legal content. Decree 2780/1973, which still regulates university colegios mayores, reserves it for students and graduates who have joined a colegio mayor (art. 19.1), and the LOSU uses it when it defines the college by the all-round education "of its colegiales". In a residence, whoever lives there is a resident; in a colegio mayor, a colegial.
- Colegial mayor (senior colegial): someone who, with at least one academic year in the college, has earned it under the college rules. Senior colegiales make up the Consejo Colegial, the body through which residents take part in college life (art. 14).
- Resident colegial: someone who lives in the college and is not yet a senior colegial.
- Affiliated colegial: someone who has joined for the purposes of the formative activities, without habitually living in the college.
Being a colegial brings duties as well as rights. Choosing a colegio mayor means adhering to its house rules and committing to contribute to college life (art. 18.3), and residents and affiliated members have the right and the duty to take part in the formative activities (art. 22.2). Above the house rules sit the university's community-life rules.
Sources
Related terms
- Colegio mayorA colegio mayor is a Spanish hall of residence with a formative programme, integrated into a university: it houses university students and runs cultural and scientific activities for their all-round education. The LOSU defines it as a university institution that only non-profit entities may run or promote.
- Reglamento de régimen interno (house rules)The reglamento de régimen interno is the house rules of a colegio mayor or a residence: who governs it, how one gets in, each resident's rights and duties, its timetables and services, and how breaches are dealt with. If the centre depends on a university, it must fit that university's community-life rules.
- Normas de convivencia (community-life rules)Normas de convivencia are the community-life rules every Spanish university, public or private, must approve under Ley 3/2022: they bind the university community and include measures against violence, discrimination and harassment. They reach a colegio mayor or an affiliated residence through its university.