Catholic University of Portugal
Encyclopedia
The Catholic University of Portugal kɐˈtɔlikɐ puɾtuˈɡezɐ), also referred as Católica or UCP for short, is the only concordatary university
Concordat
A concordat is an agreement between the Holy See of the Catholic Church and a sovereign state on religious matters. Legally, they are international treaties. They often includes both recognition and privileges for the Catholic Church in a particular country...

 (non-state-run university with concordat
Concordat
A concordat is an agreement between the Holy See of the Catholic Church and a sovereign state on religious matters. Legally, they are international treaties. They often includes both recognition and privileges for the Catholic Church in a particular country...

ary status) of the Catholic Church, in Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

. Although it is just one university, it is made up of four major regional centres, Beiras
Beira, Portugal
Beira was one of the six traditional provinces or "comarcas" of Portugal.-Administrative history:The medieval province of Beira was divided in 1832 into* Beira Alta Province* Beira Baixa ProvinceBeira Litoral...

 (Caldas da Rainha
Caldas da Rainha
Caldas da Rainha is a city in western central Portugal. The city serves as the seat of the larger municipality of the same name and is the seat of the Comunidade Intermunicipal do Oeste...

 and Viseu
Viseu
Viseu is both a city and a municipality in the Dão-Lafões Subregion of Centro Region, Portugal. The municipality, with an area of 507.1 km², has a population of 99,593 , and the city proper has 47,250...

), Braga
Braga
Braga , a city in the Braga Municipality in northwestern Portugal, is the capital of the Braga District, the oldest archdiocese and the third major city of the country. Braga is the oldest Portuguese city and one of the oldest Christian cities in the World...

, Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...

 (the headquarters) and Porto
Porto
Porto , also known as Oporto in English, is the second largest city in Portugal and one of the major urban areas in the Iberian Peninsula. Its administrative limits include a population of 237,559 inhabitants distributed within 15 civil parishes...

. Today UCP consists of 18 faculties, schools and institutes, which are the basic education and research units.

History

The Catholic University of Portugal was established in 1967 by decree of the Holy See
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...

 (Lusitanorum Nobilissima Gens), at the request of the Portuguese Bishop's conference and under Concordat
Concordat
A concordat is an agreement between the Holy See of the Catholic Church and a sovereign state on religious matters. Legally, they are international treaties. They often includes both recognition and privileges for the Catholic Church in a particular country...

 Law. So, it was founded in 1967 and gained official recognition in 1971.

Its first constituent Faculty was the Jesuit-owned and run Faculty of Philosophy of Braga (Northern Portugal). However, the University was soon extended to Lisbon where it opened, in 1968, the Faculty of Theology and, in 1971, the Faculty of Human Sciences.

The Portuguese government's official recognition of UCP occurred in 1971, via decree-law 307/71, which acknowledged the Catholic University as on a par with the other Portuguese universities and conferred on the degrees it grants - presently Licentiate
Licentiate
Licentiate is the title of a person who holds an academic degree called a licence. The term may derive from the Latin licentia docendi, meaning permission to teach. The term may also derive from the Latin licentia ad practicandum, which signified someone who held a certificate of competence to...

, Master
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...

 and Doctorate
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...

, - the same value and the same effects as those awarded by State universities.

The late 1970s and 1980s saw the establishment and development in Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 of a privately owned sector in higher education (including both universities and polytechnics). Within that context, there has been a generalized acceptance of the distinctive position held by the Catholic University - a public, non-State and non-profit-seeking institution.

Nowadays, and following the general trend in Portugal and abroad, UCP enjoys a large degree of autonomy in the creation and running of new campuses, faculties and courses.

Currently it has, among others, the well known courses of Business, Economics, Architecture, Law
Law school
A law school is an institution specializing in legal education.- Law degrees :- Canada :...

, Media and Cultural Studies, Civil Engineering and Dental Medicine.

The Lisbon MBA

The Lisbon MBA is a partnership between Universidade Catolica Portuguesa and Universidade Nova de Lisboa.
The partnership includes a Full Time One year MBA, in partnership with MIT Sloan School of Management
MIT Sloan School of Management
The MIT Sloan School of Management is the business school of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in Cambridge, Massachusetts....

 and a Part Time MBA.
The two Universities that offer this MBA program hold the triple crown accreditation namely AMBA, EQUIS and AACSB.

Rankings

According to the THE - QS World University Rankings, the Catholic University of Portugal is within the world's 500 best universities.

According to the Financial Times
Financial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....

 university league table, in 2007, the Catholic University degree in Business is the best in Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

, and belongs to the Top 20 in Europe.

It is the largest private university in Portugal in terms of students enrolled and the 10th largest including public universities.

External links


Portugal°N date=December 2010°W
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