Abat Oliba CEU University
Abat Oliba CEU University (UAO CEU) is a private university located in Barcelona. It was founded in 1973 as the Abat Oliba College. In 2003, the Parliament of Catalonia approved its conversion to Abat Oliba CEU University. The university adopts the name of Abat Oliba, Count of Berga and Ripoll, bishop of Vic, and founder of Montserrat because "aimed at making its spirit who established a thousand years the foundations of emerging Catalonia based on Roman and Christian culture".[1]
The origin of the current university is in the CDES Abat Oliba, an institution created by Fundación San Pablo-CEU in 1973 in Barcelona. The center started its activities in January 1974 through an affiliation agreement with the University of Barcelona. In 1995 it became known as the Center for Higher Education Abat Oliba and offered degrees in Law, Business Administration and Management, and Economy. In 2003, the Parliament of Catalonia recognized Abat Oliba CEU University as a new university.
The spring of 2007 saw the birth of the Goliad UAO CEU Awards, prizes given annually by the advertising and communication students of the Abat Oliba CEU University. In 2012 the institution started an annual conferenced titled UAO CEU International Journalism Week, lasting an entire week (Monday to Friday), and hosting presentations by professionals and scholars of Journalism. Also in 2012, the Abat Oliba CEU University and the totality of the Catalan universities pledged to defend the Catalan linguistic immersion model and proposed a coordinated access to the Catalan university system.
Rankings
According to the 2009 Spanish universities ranking by the Institute for Industrial and Financial Analysis (IAIF) of the Complutense University of Madrid, the Abat Oliba CEU University ranks 1st among the Catalan private universities in terms of teaching. In research, the university holds the 3rd position nationwide.[2]