Mondragon Unibertsitatea will continue to lead the EU4Dual European dual training project for a further two years

Mondragon Unibertsitatea will continue to lead the EU4Dual dual training project – the European university alliance created to promote dual training in Europe – for a further two years. The European Commission has extended its support for the project by two years with the aim of scaling up the initiative and strengthening its impact on European higher education.

Mondragon Unibertsitatea is a pioneer in dual training in Spain. Currently, 60 per cent of Mondragon Unibertsitatea’s degree programmes – 12 bachelor’s degrees and 15 master’s degrees – are dual programmes

EU4Dual has been led by Mondragon Unibertsitatea since its launch in 2023, thanks to its track record and leadership in dual education in Spain and across Europe – a model the University has been developing since 1966. The aim of this alliance is to improve the quality of European higher education through dual education and to address the current challenges facing Europe and the world.

In this new phase, the alliance has undergone some changes to its composition, as the Polytechnic Institute of Portalegre (Portugal) has joined as a new member, whilst John von Neumann University (Hungary), which until now has been a member of the alliance, has become an associate university.

This extension phase of the project will also see the involvement of leading partner organisations and companies. On behalf of Mondragon Unibertsitatea, Unibasque, MONDRAGON Corporation, DanobatGroup, LABORAL Kutxa, CAF and the Basque Government’s Department of Education will be joining the initiative. In addition, the other universities in the alliance will bring in around 20 partner companies, including Nokia, Sophia Genetics, Infineon Technologies, Hilty Szerszam and Dassault Systems.

A boost for dual training

One of the key developments of this European programme has been the creation of the European Dual University, which will deliver its first course – led by the Higher Polytechnic School of Mondragon Unibertsitatea – in September 2026. Specifically, the Joint European Master’s in Digital and Sustainable Manufacturing Engineering will be launched, to be taught at four universities within the consortium. Students will be able to undertake the programme by selecting universities on a semester-by-semester basis and choosing their specialisations.

In addition, the alliance is working on a second dual Master’s programme focusing on the Green Economy, in which the Mondragon Unibertsitatea School of Business will participate alongside other European universities. This new programme is scheduled to commence in the 2027–2028 academic year.

The dual model at Mondragon Unibertsitatea

Mondragon Unibertsitatea is a pioneer in dual training in Spain. Currently, 60 per cent of Mondragon Unibertsitatea’s degree programmes – 12 bachelor’s degrees and 15 master’s degrees – are dual programmes, and 30 per cent of students are enrolled on the dual model. The University will continue to strengthen the dual model over the next five years, and by 2028, it expects half of its student body to be enrolled in dual programmes.

To ensure high-quality dual training, Mondragon Unibertsitatea has an extensive network of over 900 partner companies and institutions. Twenty-six per cent of students who undertake the dual programme go on to work for the same company where they completed it.