ENEB Masters degrees-why does getting Universidad Isabel I certification matter?

Just a question -if most NACES reviewers evalaute ENEB Masters as Unaccredited or less than a Master's degree why does getting Universidad Isabel I certification matter?
From the web:

• Validation of quality: Universidad Isabel I is an official university registered with the Spanish Ministry of Education, and its certification validates the quality and recognition of the studies, according to ENEB's academic brochure.
• European recognition: The programs are designed within the European Higher Education Area and grant ECTS credits, which ensures homogeneity and quality recognized internationally.
• If the certification of the ENEB Master's by Isabel I doesn't impress USA evaluators enough to declare it as equal to a USA Masters RA degree why does it matter if you get it?(Other than for the credits) It to me says it isn't recognized internationally - specifically in the United States.

 

It provides affordable, asynchronous professional development with a real diploma from a real University that is equivalent to real graduate studies. That is its purpose of propios like the ENEB/UI1 program in Spain. It is just that the US education system is more restrictive and doesnt have an equivalent degree. Many private companies will honor it as a full master degree in the US anyways.

Some people in this forum have used it to transfer to graduate programs or serve as the equivalent of a bachelors degree for graduate programs. Others have gotten raises and promotions after completing it. Some have used them to fulfill required continuing education hours or serve as credit to become licensed. Still others have been able to use it professional development and own personal edification.

 

So if someone needs a rock‑solid U.S. RA‑equivalent master’s degree for credential or a very selective employer, this Título propio probably isn’t the right tool.

But if the goal is affordable, university‑validated professional development that can sometimes get positive foreign‑credential evaluations, be understood in Europe, or help with promotions/CE credits, then the Isabel I link is what gives ENEB that level of usefulness. ”

A Título propio is a university’s “own” private credential, while an official Máster (Máster oficial / Máster universitario) is a state‑approved degree that forms part of Spain’s regulated higher‑education system.

Máster oficial: More academic/regulatory in nature; used for research paths, teaching careers, professional licensing, and formal qualification upgrades within the public system.

Título propio: More professionally oriented, flexible, and practice‑focused, often developed with companies to meet specific labor‑market needs and commonly used for continuing education and career advancement in the private sector,

Some private‑sector employers focus more on the school’s reputation, field of study, and your experience than on whether the program was 6, 9, or 18 months, as long as it looks like a substantial postgraduate course (often 30–60 ECTS or more).
60‑ECTS programs are easier to market as a serious master‑level qualification.
Keep in mind that for future study, visas, or formal evaluations, longer, higher‑ECTS propios are far more likely to be granted substantial graduate credit, counted toward entry requirements, or accepted for things like job‑search permits, while short programs may be treated as minor continuing‑education only.

Many UK/EU universities have generic RPL or Credit Transfer policies that allow recognition of prior study from “non‑official” or “non‑degree” programs if the learning is at the right level, volume, and can be evidenced with syllabi and transcripts.

 

Thanks for your replies and I can see how for many it can be a useful course of study. ENEB's most prominent degree is the MBA but if it is evaluated as an undergraduate degree or cetificate it is not a MBA which is the most cherished business credential. As you point out in the prvidate sector an employer might accept as a Masters degree.
Universidad Isabel I is an official university registered with the Spanish Ministry of Education which would mean it's programs would be seen as Equal to a USA RA degree. It would make more sense if Unviersidad Isabel I issued the degree rather thatn certifying a proprio by contracting ENEB to provide the course work for them. Am I missing something?

 

You’re not really missing anything — the confusion comes from how títulos propios work in Spain and how they differ from títulos oficiales, plus the way U.S. evaluators treat them.
Even though Universidad Isabel I is an official institution, the ENEB + Isabel I degrees are not official degrees — they are proprio, meaning “of the university,” not “of the state.”
This model fits perfectly with a título propio, but cannot meet the requirements of an official Spanish master’s degree. The standard for Ministry official degree is different.
Accredited faculty, Program audits, specific workload and course structure, usually direct delivery by the university (not a contracted school).

Yes, ENEB–Isabel I awards are real Spanish university credentials.
No, they are not official degrees, even though issued by an official university.

 

I just sent my Masters from ENEB to be evaluated by CES University of Toronto and came back as a program not recognized in Canada. End of story. It can be used for continuing education but not for immigration nor jobs that require a Master's degree in Canada. I include it in my CV as a Master certificate to avoid legal problems. I checked and few others evaluators in Canada do not recognize it. There is a new option with Marconi in Italy but you need to pay extra and submit some kind of mini thesis. Nobody has used this Marconi degree in Canada and USA yet so we don't know if it will be accredited by the US or Canadian Authorities. Given the massive amount of fraud in Immigration, I would think that authorities are more vigilant about degrees from places like ENEB for work permits, visa, etc. The safest is to get an official degree from Spain, it is going to cost few thousands of dollars but at least there is no risk of rejection.

 

Okay, so we've had WES Canada backtrack on its approval of ENEB/Universidad Isabel I degree as equivalent to a Canadian Master's degree (prior to 2024) and now University of Toronto Comparative Education Service is backtracking on its approval of "one-year postgraduate diploma" equivalency that they gave just a few months back (February, 2025)? Where's the consistency with North American credential evaluation services? Did they still give you the postgraduate diploma equivalency, or just stated that the program is not recognized in Canada? Did you send them the Universidad Isabel I diploma, or just the ENEB one?

CES prior postgraduate diploma equivalency is documented in the attachment below:

https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-ENEB-Master-Thread?pid=436731#pid436731. Did they forget about their prior judgement? What's going on?

European national evaluators (ENIC-NARIC network) tend to be way more consistent.

 

Things have changed. IQAS (Alberta) blocks you from evaluating ENEB degrees so I tried CES UoT, they took 3 months to come back to me to finally say that they could not evaluate as the degree is not recognized in Spain as a masters degree. Given the situation in Canada with the immigration fraud scandals my guess is that evaluators are more vigilant. They still sent me an evaluation of the credits just saying that the credits are valid but the degree is not recognized. In few words, I could use the credits but cannot say that it is a degree in Canada.
I did not try Quebec because it is problematic, they ask you for a paper notarized copy of the degree from a notary in Spain for the degree and the transcript. ENEB quoted me more than thousand bucks just for that so I did not go for it given the risk of a negative. ENEB wanted to charge hundreds of dollars just for a printed copy of the degree and transcript and hundreds of dollars for the notarization. ENEB real business is not the degree itself but the translations, printouts, certified transcripts, etc so be ready to pay big bucks for documents if you want to evaluate it.

 

If you could use the credits than the institution has to be recognized, even if the degree isn't. Otherwise, you would not be able to use them as college credits for any kind of transfer. Unless you're merely talking about continuing education units instead of credits...

 

My guess is that they are just trying to avoid the degree recognition to avoid problems with immigration. If someone wants the credits to be admitted to a university of college, it might work but it will not work for immigration or federal/provincial employment.
Things are changing, as people are using more a more these degrees for immigration and work permits, the evaluators close the doors due to abuse.

 

Not everyone needs an evaluation. Evaluations are mainly required for immigration, work permits, federal jobs, university jobs but the for the vast majority, employers just do a quick check on the internet that the university is valid. As ISABEL is a real university and most people in the US and Canada have not clue about the difference between propio and official, it would be treated by most employers as a typical no name university from your average european country. It might be more credible to eyes of the employer than an official degree from places like India or Pakistan so people buy them because the European brand.

 

I am not impressed by the new Universidad Isabel I upgrade degree (where ENEB is supposedly taken off the titulo propio diploma, leaving you with essentilaly the same award), but the Italian Second Level Master's degree looks interesting to me. I might still consider it.

 

I could see the potential for abuse with these institution-specific awards and degree equivalency statements, especially in the area of immigration. That makes some sense. I also saw some abuse with people using the ENEB Bachelor's degree equivalency that they got from from evaluators like ECE (to serve as an example) as a substitute for a regular Bachelor's degree. Apparently, ENEB allowed some individuals without a Bachelor's to finish the program. I also saw some people posting two equivalencies on their Linkedin for the exact same degree. I like these country-specific qualifications, but they are not meant to be your primary degrees for admission into higher level programs. In fact, the whole point of Spanish and Italian institution-specific awards is to complement your regular degrees, which assumes you already hold the regular degree(s).

 

I am not sure I would call it abuse. Getting an equivalent to a bachelors through a legitimate, government recognized channel. It is all above board. It also isnt unheard of people getting masters without a bachelors in places in Europe, so there is that too.

It isnt like people who went this pathway went to Harvard, most just used it as a check box for programs on top of decades of experiences.

 

There may be some odd European country that does admit students to a Master's without a Bachelor's but I am not aware of such. There are integrated Master's degrees, but they last 4.5 years at minimum.

As for equivalency, I am fine with it as long you truly have the equivalent number of credits. ENEB's program is max 1 to 1,5 years (60-90 ECTS), so that's not the same as having a Bachelor's degree anywhere in Europe. Here, a Bachelor's degree is 180 ECTS (three-year one) or 240 ECTS (four-year one). The ECE equivalency could be misleading in that regard, that's unless it's treated as second degree on top of a conventional Bachelor's.

 

I mean I get your argument. I would hesitate to equate these to a bachelors too, but I am also not an accreditor and have little experience in education systems.

In general, people get admitted into grad programs and hired for roles based on more than their bachelor’s degree. The burden of checking the rigor of these degrees is, in my opinion, that of the employer or graduate school. Accreditor serve as that middle man. If someone wish to take the opinion of the accreditor then that is their prerogative.

 

Formal standards exist for a reason: they define the minimum academic level, oversight, and learning outcomes required for degrees to be recognized within Spain’s official framework (RUCT).

University propios can be useful, but they fall outside that system.

That places them in the category of non-standard credentials, even if the issuing university is reputable.
Employers and graduate schools may choose to evaluate them, but they do so without the assurance that comes with official accreditation or degree recognition.

That’s why equating propios to state-recognized bachelor’s degrees isn’t accurate—one belongs to the regulated national degrees, the other does not.

 

It is ridiculous, they send you a "certificate" and avoid the word "titulo propio" for this reason. After you get the certificate, they offer the upgrade for 500 euros so they change the word certificate for titulo propio. I keep getting upgrade emails, if you want a print of your diploma they want another 400 euros and so on. The person selling me the Marconi upgrade wanted $1500 USD but I decided not to do it, you might get it and still be denied because it is not a Masters degree but some kind of master that is not official just like the propio but the italian version. ENEB is really a money making machine so I would just stay with the certificate if the course appeals you. The courses are decent but nothing different than places like coursera but they change the word certificate for master's just to get attention.