UNDERGRADUATE ADMISSIONS GUIDE
IE University is a private university in Spain, with campuses in Madrid and Segovia and every bachelor’s degree taught in English. Start here to understand how its degrees and Spain’s system work, and to prepare each part of your application.
September 2027 entry
GET TO KNOW THE DEGREES
IE is an official private university, recognized by the Spanish government, and its bachelor’s degrees are official Spanish degrees within the European Higher Education Area. You apply for one program, or a dual degree that combines two, and study that subject from your first year. Every program starts in September.
YOUR PROGRAM
Programs run from Business Administration and Economics to Laws, International Relations, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence, Design, and Humanities.
YOUR CAMPUS
In many programs you choose between four years in Madrid, or two years in Segovia followed by two in Madrid.
USUALLY FOUR YEARS
Most bachelor’s programs take four years, full time and in person. Architectural Studies takes five.
IE says all its programs are taught fully in English. Beginner and intermediate Spanish courses are included in your tuition in your first and second years.
U.S. high school diploma: IE expects an unweighted GPA of at least 3.4 out of 4.0 over your last three years of high school. AP and Honors courses aren’t required but are highly recommended.
The IB: Typical admissions are based on 34 to 45 points, and IE’s students average 36. You need the full IB Diploma, because Spain doesn’t accept the IB Certificate, and IE counts only your first results, not retakes.
A levels: At least three A levels, with applications ranging from AAB to A*A*A*, and no retakes. Spain also requires five GCSEs at grade C (4) or above, and IE prefers As and Bs in subjects related to your program.
Asian national systems: For example, an 80% average in India’s senior secondary exams, an 80% GPA in China (the gaokao is highly recommended but not required), or 4.0 out of 5.0 in Japan.
Legal access: To be officially enrolled, you must meet Spain’s university entry requirements, which usually means meeting the university entry requirements of the country where you live. IE’s admissions team guides you, but the final decision rests with the Spanish authorities.
EU, bilateral-agreement, IB, and European Baccalaureate students: You submit a credential from UNED, Spain’s national distance-learning university, through its UNEDasiss platform.
Other systems, including the U.S.: You validate your diploma through Spain’s Ministry of Education, which IE says can take three to six months. For a U.S. diploma, Spain requires official transcripts for grades 10, 11, and 12, and you can’t skip a year.
The October deadline: IE asks for your recognition documents before October 15 of your first year. After that, students who are still only conditionally enrolled may be denied entry for that academic year.
Online schooling: Under a Spanish Constitutional Court ruling, a secondary diploma earned online or by distance education outside Spain isn’t recognized. Foundation years don’t count either.
UNDERSTAND WHAT IE CONSIDERS
IE uses a scoring system that weighs your academic record, activities, personal background, English, admissions test result, and online assessment. No single factor decides the outcome, and the same criteria apply in every round.
YOUR GRADES
IE reads transcripts from at least your last two years, plus any current grades and predicted results. It considers only your first exam results, not retakes of final exams.
Letrado’s adviceCompare your record with IE’s guideline for your system, and choose a program that builds on subjects you’ve actually studied.
YOUR TEST
You either take the IE Admissions Test or submit an SAT of 1300 or above, an ACT of 28 or above, or an LNAT of 22 or above. Science and Technology applicants sending the SAT are expected to score at least 700 in Math.
Letrado’s adviceIf you already have a score at or above IE’s minimum, send it. You can also submit both a score and IE’s test.
YOUR ENGLISH
Unless you’re exempt, you need a TOEFL of 100 (105 recommended), IELTS 7 (7.5 recommended), Duolingo 130, or Cambridge C1 Advanced or C2 Proficiency, taken within the last two years.
Letrado’s adviceYou’re usually exempt after at least your last two years in an English-language system, such as a U.S. high school, the IB in English, or A levels.
WHAT IE DESCRIBES
12 minutes for 37 tasks: judge statements against numerical data.
12 minutes for 49 tasks: judge statements against a text.
6 minutes to complete visual patterns.
5 minutes to recall objects shown quickly, in order.
Applicants to Applied Mathematics, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence, Data and Business Analytics, and Environmental Sciences for Sustainability also take a 60-minute Mathematics Assessment. Business Administration, Economics, and PPLE applicants take a 15-minute one, without a calculator.
You take it on your own computer, with a camera and microphone, after paying the application fee. Scores reflect accuracy and speed, wrong answers can cost points, and your result isn’t shared with you.
WHAT IE DESCRIBES
After the earlier steps, IE invites you to an online assessment on the Kira Talent platform, with short written and video responses about your personality, communication, and motivation.
IE may also invite you to a personal interview, which can take place online. IE’s pages describe how often this happens in different ways, but they agree that not every applicant is interviewed, and IE says being invited, or not, is neither positive nor negative.
IE doesn’t allow live translation or other AI help for language fluency during interviews and assessments.
WHAT IE’S POLICY SAYS
Definitive admission means you’ve met IE’s requirements; you still send your final grades. Conditional admission means your place depends on final results that IE sets out in your letter.
Further review carries your application into a later round, which IE says isn’t a rejection. IE may also suggest a different program that fits your profile better. No admission applies to every IE bachelor’s program for that intake, and you can’t apply again in the same cycle.
You can appeal in writing within 10 days of a decision, but only with new, relevant information the committee didn’t have.
PLAN THE APPLICATION
You apply through IE’s own online application or the Common App, and the application fee is €150. The Early Round deadline was September 18, 2026. The Round 1 deadline is November 6, 2026, and Rounds 2 and 3 follow in January and March 2027. No round is binding.
Early Round
Sep 18, 2026Round 1
Nov 6, 2026Round 2
Jan 15, 2027Round 3
Mar 5, 2027After the rounds
From May 2027Your round is set by the date you submit a complete application, with transcripts and predicted grades; your recommendation and English certificate can follow, although a decision that depends on an English certificate waits until you send it. IE says earlier rounds have more places and may offer a wider range of financial aid, with the same criteria in every round.
Your background, activities, and program choice, with a €150 fee that isn’t refunded. Once started, it must be completed within one month.
At least your last two years, plus this year’s grades so far, in their original language. IB students add predicted grades, and A level students their GCSEs and predictions.
Usually from a teacher, counselor, or academic advisor who knows your academic work.
Your studies, activities, and any work experience, plus a copy of your passport and a passport-sized photo.
A personal piece on a topic given in the application. Design and Architecture applicants also send a portfolio.
The IE Admissions Test or an SAT, ACT, or LNAT score, and an English test score unless you’re exempt. The online assessment follows, and some applicants are also interviewed.
The reservation fee: €5,000 for Business Administration and the Global BBA, and €3,000 for every other bachelor’s and dual degree. It’s deducted from your first year’s tuition.
Refunds: The fee isn’t refundable or transferable. The exception, IE says, is if your final grades don’t meet your conditions and your admission is revoked; then it’s refunded.
Timing: Your admission letter gives a payment deadline. When a program is nearly full, IE allocates places in order of payment, and late payers may go onto a waiting list.
Your visa: Reserving your place is also the step that lets IE issue documents for a Spanish student visa.
Aid and the fee: An award or scholarship is applied to tuition and can’t be used for the reservation fee.
Deferring: You can ask, in writing, to defer your offer for up to one academic year. IE decides case by case.
The contract: You choose a payment plan and sign an enrollment contract online. If you’re under 18, a parent or guardian signs too.
The IE Foundation contribution: A one-time payment of €1,200 when you first enroll.
Paying tuition: In one payment by October 2; in three installments of 50%, 25%, and 25% by October 2, January 2, and April 2; or, for families with a bank account in Europe’s SEPA zone, in eight monthly installments.
Extra support: If you have special educational needs, IE can adapt its test and online assessment, for example with extra time, based on a professional’s report.
If you’re not an EU citizen: Including if you’re from the U.S. or the UK, you need a Spanish student visa for a degree. You apply at the Spanish consulate for the place where you legally live, using documents IE issues after you reserve your place.
Money and insurance: For 2026, the Spanish consulates ask you to show €600 a month (100% of Spain’s IPREM income indicator), plus full health insurance, which the Washington consulate says must have no co-payments or deductibles. Travel insurance doesn’t count.
Timing: IE says the visa application must be submitted no later than 60 days before the academic year starts. The Washington consulate accepts applications from six months to two months before your program begins, charges U.S. citizens $160, and asks for an FBI background check for stays over 180 days. Once in Spain, IE’s team guides you through getting your student card.
If you’re an EU citizen: You don’t need a visa, but you must register with the Spanish authorities within 90 days of arriving.
WRITE IN YOUR OWN VOICE
Topic given in the applicationIE’s policy lists an essay, video, presentation, artistic work, or another format its admissions office accepts.
IE doesn’t publish its Express Yourself topic outside the application form. Its admissions policy says the committee values originality and authenticity, and wants to understand you beyond your grades.
Letrado’s adviceChoose the format you can do well, not the one you think looks impressive. A clear essay about one real experience says more than a polished video with little in it. IE allows AI-generated text if you label and quote it, but our advice is to write every sentence yourself.
IE describes Express Yourself as your chance to show what has shaped you. Pick one experience, explain what happened in plain words, and say what you do differently because of it.
IE asks for a recent CV with your studies, work experience, and activities. Put the most important entries first, and describe your part in each one accurately.
IE asks for one letter, typically from a teacher, counselor, or academic advisor. Choose someone who can describe how you work in class, and give them a short note on what you’re applying for.
IE welcomes AI tools. If you include AI-generated content, IE asks you to say it came from AI, put it in quotation marks, and give its source, and you guarantee that your application is your own work. IE doesn’t allow AI or live translation to help your language fluency in interviews and assessments. Letrado’s advice goes further than IE’s rule: use AI only to brainstorm, check spelling and grammar, or understand a topic, and write every sentence you submit yourself, with no AI-written text, even in quotation marks.
MAKE ROOM FOR THE FINANCIAL QUESTION
IE is a private university, and its 2027–2028 fee table lists one price per program, without separate rates for EU and non-EU students. The fees shown are for the first year and are adjusted each year after that.
MOST BACHELOR’S DEGREES · 2027–28
Including Economics, International Relations, Laws, PPLE, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence, and Humanities.
DESIGN AND BUSINESS · 2027–28
A year: €28,020 for Architectural Studies, Design, and Fashion Design, and €29,880 for Business Administration.
DUAL DEGREES · 2027–28
A year, charged on a fixed 60 credits (ECTS) a year: €34,020 for dual degrees with Business Administration.
The Global BBA is €45,120 a year. Every new student also makes a one-time €1,200 IE Foundation contribution, and the application fee is €150.
IE’s 2027–2028 tuition fees (opens in a new tab)IE’S COST-OF-LIVING CALCULATOR · MADRID · ONE MONTH
€1,350Our worked example on IE’s calculator, for a room in a shared Madrid apartment and everyday costs. The same choices in Segovia come to €990, mainly because a room costs €450 instead of €800.
IE calls these figures estimates and doesn’t date them. Tuition, flights, deposits, and visa costs are extra.
IE’s cost-of-living calculator (opens in a new tab)Letrado’s adviceApply for aid as soon as you’re admitted, because IE allocates funds on a rolling basis. Price all four years, allow for yearly fee increases, and remember that aid can’t be used for the reservation fee.
IE lists each award’s eligibility, from the Women in STEM and Young Entrepreneurs awards to scholarships for United World Colleges students.
IE’s undergraduate awards and scholarships (opens in a new tab)CLIENT JOURNEYS
Here are three related stories. These students compared different countries’ systems, priced each option honestly, and presented creative work, the same questions many IE applicants work through.
AI illustration
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AI illustrationWHEN YOU’D LIKE A HAND
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