Universities in Marbella
No public university, no campus of the Universidad de Málaga, and no 'University of Marbella' anywhere in Spain's official register. In their place: four private institutions whose degrees are validated abroad. Every figure below is read from each institution's own published pages, dated, and a fee that is not published there is recorded as unpublished, never estimated.
Fees and accreditations read from each institution's own site, 31 August 2026.
The short answer
The Andalusian university system counts fifteen universities, ten public and five private, and not one of them sits in Marbella. The nearest public campus belongs to the Universidad de Málaga, in Málaga city. What Marbella actually has is private and validated from abroad: a university centre awarding London degrees, a hospitality school with Swiss and American accreditation, an American transfer college in Puerto Banús and a design academy that, despite the name, teaches from Monda.
- Universities in the Andalusian system (none in Marbella)
- 15
- Nearest public campus
- Universidad de Málaga (Málaga)
Marbella International University Centre (MIUC)
MIUC sits on Finca El Pinillo, at the western edge of town, and teaches business, marketing, psychology, law and international relations. It is not a Spanish university: its students graduate with degrees from the University of West London. It also carries the highest published rate in the municipality, and it is the one institution here that puts every figure on its own site.
- Undergraduate tuition, per year
- €20,800 (2026/27)
- Postgraduate tuition, per year
- €21,300 (2026/27)
- Registration, one off
- €1,200
- Degrees awarded by
- University of West London
Les Roches Marbella
Les Roches teaches hospitality management from Urbanización Lomas de Río Verde, on the Istán road. It is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education and holds Swiss university-of-applied-sciences institute status. What it costs is harder to read: current tuition sits inside PDF brochures on its own site, so the one figure quotable here is the application fee.
- Accredited since 2006 by
- NECHE
- Application fee
- €275
- Current tuition rates
- lesroches.edu (PDF)
The American College in Spain
The American College in Spain, in the La Alzambra centre behind Puerto Banús, runs the American transfer model: two years of US general-education coursework in Marbella, an Associate of Arts awarded by Keiser University, then a transfer abroad for the bachelor's. Tuition is not published on its site, which under this page's rules means no figure appears here.
- Associate degree awarded by
- Keiser University
Marbella Design Academy
The Marbella Design Academy is the oldest trick in the local naming book: founded in 1995, capped at 230 students and located not in Marbella but in Monda, in the hills behind the coast. Its three-year BA programmes are validated by the University of Bedfordshire; the fee below is the interior-architecture rate read from its own page, and it is the cheaper of the two rates published in the area.
- BA fee, per academic year
- €15,000 (€12,000 + €3,000)
- Degrees validated by
- University of Bedfordshire
- Enrolment cap
- 230
- Campus
- Monda (Málaga)
Studying public from Marbella
A public degree means the Universidad de Málaga, and that means Málaga: its campuses are in the city, and its Marbella footprint is limited to a summer-course sede and an entrance-exam venue. There is no train to get you there; the practical answer is the Malaga bus guide. Distance learning is the other route, though neither UNIR nor UOC lists a study centre in Marbella.
- UMA summer courses
- Sede Marbella
- UMA entrance-exam venue
- Subsede PEVAU
Questions
Is there a university in Marbella?
No public one. The Universidad de Málaga is the closest public campus, and Marbella's own offer is private: MIUC, Les Roches, the American College in Spain and the Marbella Design Academy, each awarding a foreign degree.
Is there a University of Marbella?
Not in Spain's official system: the Andalusian register counts fifteen universities and none of them is in Marbella. The closest thing to the name is the Marbella International University Centre, a private centre whose degrees are awarded by the University of West London.
How much does it cost to study in Marbella?
The two published rates: €20,800 a year at MIUC and €15,000 a year at the Marbella Design Academy. Les Roches publishes its rates only inside PDF brochures, and the American College publishes no figure at all.
Can you live in Marbella and study at a public university?
The Universidad de Málaga is in Málaga city, so it means the bus: there is no train. UMA's own presence in Marbella is limited to summer courses and a PEVAU exam venue.
Each institution's awarding body, accreditation and fees come from its own published pages, read on the date above, never from an aggregator. One number in the source is one number here; a rate kept inside a brochure PDF is linked, not transcribed, and a fee not published at all is stated as unpublished, never estimated.
At school age the same discipline applies: the Swedish school in Marbella, fees and places read from each school's own site.