Educational institutions and study programmes
Mexican education institutions and study programmes
Below, we explain what types of educational institutions and degree programmes there are in Mexico. We also explain how we check whether these are recognised. We check the to make sure that the quality is sufficient. We give the necessary information per educational sector.
Recognition
The government of a country grants an official status to an educational institution and/or study programme. Usually, if the government recognises an educational institution, all its study programmes are also recognised. However recognition may also be arranged at the programme level. This means that the government must recognise not only the educational institution, but also its study programmes. We only evaluate diplomas from recognised institutions and recognised study programmes. Read more about recognition in the EAR manual.
Secondary education | schools
Pupils follow their education at a (secondary) school. The schools can have different names, such as colegio, liceo or preparatoria. Sometimes, schools are part of a university.
Checking the recognition of schools
Secondary schools need to be recognised. You can check the recognition in the following way:
- Go to the website Mejora tu Escuela (in Spanish).
- Under ‘Nombre o clave’, enter the name or the number of the school. You can find this information on the diploma and/or the transcript.
- Click on the logo of the magnifying glass. The search results are now displayed.
- Is the school mentioned in the search results? In that case, the school is recognised.
- If you click on the name of the school, you can check if the information about the school corresponds to the information on the diploma and transcript.
- Is the school not mentioned in the search results? In that case, the school probably is not recognised.
Higher education | educational institutions
Students can follow higher education at the following educational institutions:
- universities (universidades);
- technical institutes (institutos tecnológicos);
- primary teacher training institutions (escuelas normales públicas);
- public research centres (centros públicos de investigación);
- other public educational institutions (otras instituciones públicas).
Universities
There are different types of universities in Mexico:
- public federal universities (universidades públicas federales);
- public state universities (universidades públicas estatales);
- polytechnical universities (universidades politécnicas);
- technical universities (universidades tecnológicas);
- interculztural universities (universidades interculturales);
- public universities with state aid (universidades públicas estatales con apoyo solidario);
- Universidad Pedagógica Nacional
- Universidad Abierta y a Distancia de México
Most universities offer study programmes in various fields of study. Some universities are more specialised, for example in the field of engineering (ingenieria).
Checking the recognition of universities
On the website of the Subsectraría de Educación Superior (SEP), you can find overviews of recognised universities:
Technical institutes
Technical institutes mainly offer study programmes in the fields of engineering (ingeniería), applied sciences (ciencias applicadas) or management (gestion). They are usually bachelor’s programmes (licenciaturas) and master’s programmes (maestrias).
Checking the recognition of technical institutes
On the SEP website, you can find an overview of recognised technical institutes.
Institutions for primary teacher training
Primary teacher training institutions (escuelas normales públicas) mainly offer bachelor’s programmes (licenciaturas).
Checking the recognition of primary teacher training institutions
On the SEP website, you can find an overview of recognised primary teacher training institutions.
Public research centres
Public research centres (centros públicos de investigación) only offer master’s programmes (maestrias) and PhD programmes.
Checking the recognition of public research centres
On the SEP website, you can find an overview of recognised public research centres.
Other public educational institutions
Other public educational institutions (otras instituciones públicas) are institutions that fall outside of the above mentioned categories. They can have different names, such as school (escuela), institute (instituto) or centre (centro). These educational institutions are often specialised in a certain field of study, such as sports or military education.
Checking the recognition of other public educational institutions
On the SEP website, you can find an overview of recognised other public educational institutions.