University admissions glossary: what pregrado, grado, posgrado and more mean

Pregrado (undergraduate studies)

Common term for the university studies you take after high school and before graduate school. Ecuadorian law calls them third level. At ECOTEC they are called undergraduate programs (carreras de grado).

Grado (third-level undergraduate degree)

University programs that train professionals with degrees such as licenciado/a, engineer, lawyer or physician. At ECOTEC: 27 undergraduate programs across five schools, at the Samborondón, Guayaquil and La Costa campuses.

Tecnología superior (technical and technological third level)

Shorter, applied programs, offered mainly by higher technical and technological institutes, that award titles such as técnico superior, tecnólogo superior or tecnólogo superior universitario. At ECOTEC: if you are a tecnólogo, you can have your passed courses recognized and continue in an undergraduate program without starting from scratch.

Licenciatura

Undergraduate degree in fields such as business administration, communication, psychology or social sciences; the holder is a licenciado/a. At ECOTEC: for example, Business Administration awards the degree of Licenciado/a en Administración de Empresas.

Ingeniería (engineering)

Undergraduate degree focused on designing, building and improving technical solutions; the holder is an engineer. Licenciatura and engineering are at the same level: what changes is the program's focus. At ECOTEC: Civil Engineering awards the degree of Ingeniero/a Civil.

Third-level degree (título de tercer nivel)

The document certifying that you completed a technical-technological or undergraduate program. To be officially valid, it is registered in SNIESE, SENESCYT's information system. At ECOTEC: the university registers your degree within 45 days of the official record of completion of studies.

Graduate studies (posgrado, fourth level)

Studies you take once you hold a third-level degree: specializations, master's degrees and doctorates. At ECOTEC: Posgrado ECOTEC offers more than 25 on-campus and blended master's programs and requires a third-level undergraduate degree registered with SENESCYT.

Specialization (especialización)

A graduate program focused on a specific professional field, usually shorter than a master's degree. In health care there are medical specializations with their own requirements.

Master's degree (maestría)

A graduate program that goes deeper into a field. It can be professional, focused on professional practice, or academic, focused on research. At ECOTEC: master's programs last 12 months, use project-based learning and offer a second degree from Universidad Europea Miguel de Cervantes (Spain).

Doctorate (PhD)

The highest academic degree. It trains researchers and is earned with a doctoral thesis.

Application (inscripción)

The first step to apply for a program: you register your details and submit the documents the university requires. At ECOTEC: the process has four steps (leave your details, get advice, submit your requirements and start your program), and the requirements are your ID document, your high school academic record and a recent photo. More in Admissions.

Enrollment (matrícula)

Your formal registration as a student for an academic term, with the courses you will take. It is renewed every term. Depending on when you do it, it can be ordinary, late (extraordinaria) or special.

Induction course (curso de inducción)

A short course before your program starts to get to know the university. At ECOTEC: it lasts one week, is mandatory for every program except Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, and introduces the university's methodology, platforms and resources.

Preparatory course (nivelación)

A course that strengthens the basic knowledge you need for a program before you start it. At ECOTEC: it lasts one month and is mandatory for Medicine and Veterinary Medicine. Medicine also requires a registered high school diploma and a voting certificate.

Course recognition (homologación)

Recognition of courses or studies passed at another institution so you don't have to repeat them. In Ecuador it can be done by comparing course content, by validating knowledge or by validating professional experience. At ECOTEC: you submit the certificate and syllabus of your passed courses, signed and stamped by your previous institution, and the program's academic coordinator decides which courses are recognized.

Knowledge validation (validación de conocimientos)

A type of course recognition in which you show, through a theoretical and practical assessment, that you already master a course's content, even without a certificate to back it up.

Credit (crédito)

A unit that measures a course's workload: hours with the instructor, practical work and independent study. CES's Academic Regulations set one credit at 48 hours.

Curriculum (malla curricular)

A program's study plan: all its courses, ordered by term. At ECOTEC: each program has a downloadable curriculum in PDF on its page.

Syllabus (sílabo)

The document for each course with its objectives, content, bibliography and assessment. You need it, for example, to have courses recognized.

Academic term (período académico)

The time in which you take a group of courses. At ECOTEC: on-campus undergraduate programs combine semesters (4 to 6 courses), trimesters (1 to 3) and intensives (1 to 2), with several start dates a year. Dates in the academic calendar.

On-campus, hybrid and online study modes

On-campus: classes take place on campus. Hybrid or blended: a mix of on-campus and online classes. Online: all learning is remote, on a virtual platform. At ECOTEC: undergraduate programs are on campus, except Criminalistics, which is hybrid; master's programs are on campus or blended.

English proficiency (suficiencia en inglés)

The foreign-language level you must certify to graduate. At ECOTEC: you must certify a B1 level during your program; you don't need it to apply. The International Baccalaureate Diploma with English A or English B passed with a 4 or higher validates B1 (valid for up to 5 years).

Pre-professional internships (prácticas preprofesionales)

Work at companies or institutions where you apply what you have learned and build professional skills. They are a graduation requirement. At ECOTEC: they are mandatory to obtain your degree; the hours and the passed courses you need to start depend on your curriculum and school.

Community outreach (vinculación con la sociedad)

Programs and projects through which the university shares its knowledge with the community. Students take part as part of their training. At ECOTEC: it is the bridge between the university and its surroundings, and students apply to projects through open calls.

Academic mobility (movilidad académica)

Studying a term at another university, in Ecuador or abroad, and having the courses recognized when you return. At ECOTEC: you can take a semester abroad, in person or virtually, with 10 passed courses and a minimum average of 80/100. More in International.

Final degree project (trabajo de titulación)

The final requirement to obtain your degree. For undergraduate programs, current regulations refer to a curricular integration unit, passed with a curricular integration project or a comprehensive exam (examen complexivo), depending on the program. Graduate programs keep the name trabajo de titulación.

CACES

Council for Quality Assurance in Higher Education. It evaluates and accredits universities and programs: accreditation is the public guarantee that they meet quality standards. At ECOTEC: CACES institutional accreditation (resolution 124-SE-33-CACES-2020). More in Rankings and accreditations.

CES

Higher Education Council. It regulates the system and approves the programs universities offer. At ECOTEC: each program publishes its CES resolution; for example, Business Administration, RPC-SO-06-No.084-2025.

SENESCYT

Secretariat of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation. It leads public policy for the sector and registers higher education degrees, which anyone can look up. At ECOTEC: to apply for a master's program you need a third-level degree registered with SENESCYT.

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