Regulation and data
LOSU (Organic Act on the University System)
The LOSU is Spain's Organic Act 2/2023 of 22 March on the University System, which replaced the 2001 Organic Act on Universities and has been in force since 12 April 2023. For university accommodation it matters above all because of one provision: the one that defines the colegio mayor.
Also known asOrganic Act 2/2023 · Spanish University System Act · Ley Orgánica del Sistema Universitario
What it says about accommodation, and what it does not
It is an act about universities: governance, degrees, teaching staff, students, funding. Accommodation appears in a single place, the seventh additional provision, which defines the colegio mayor (a Spanish hall of residence with a formative programme) as a university institution integrated into the university, reserves its management and promotion to non-profit entities, and leaves its creation and the affiliation of affiliated colegios mayores to each university's statutes. Beyond that, the act reaches the college in three other ways:
- The statutes: public universities had three years from its entry into force to approve new ones (first transitional provision), and they contain the rules for colleges founded directly and the affiliation procedure.
- Community life: university autonomy includes developing community-life rules and mediation (art. 3.2.r), and respecting them is a duty of students (art. 36.b). The content comes from Ley 3/2022.
- Affiliation of teaching centres (art. 42): an agreement with a single university and, if it is public, approval by the regional government. It is the rule for affiliated faculties and schools, not for colegios mayores, which go through the statutes.
Worth knowing
The LOSU does not regulate student residences. The expression "residencia universitaria" (university residence) does not appear in its text, and a private residence or a PBSA does not become a university institution by housing students. The detailed procedure for colegios mayores is still in Decree 2780/1973, which has not been expressly repealed. The differences between the figures are in the guide to colegio mayor or university residence.
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.
- Ley 3/2022 (university community life)Ley 3/2022 of 24 February on university community life is the Spanish act that requires universities to approve community-life rules with measures against violence, discrimination and harassment, and sets the disciplinary regime for students. It never names colegios mayores: it reaches them through their university.