The U-Ranking report, prepared by the BBVA Foundation and the Valencian Institute of Economic Research (IVIE), reveals a growth in Spain's internationalization, although at an annual rate of 4.1%, below the global average of 5.5% in the number of international students enrolled in full degree programs.

Only twenty universities, fourteen public and six private, account for 59.4% of international students. Among these, universities in Madrid, Catalonia, and the Valencian Community concentrate 73% of foreign students. The UPV is the third public institution with the highest number of international students, while the UV is the fourth.

Leadership in this area belongs to IE University and Universidad Europea de Madrid, both private centers. This situation is explained by the difficulties public universities face in integrating foreign students into their admission systems, their smaller offering of English-taught degrees, and less orientation towards students from more favorable economic backgrounds.

The Valencian Community is the fourth region in Spain by volume of international students. However, when measuring the percentage of foreigners out of the total enrolled, the Valencian region lags behind smaller territories such as Navarra, Cantabria, or Castilla y León. The average internationalization rate for private universities is 20.7%, more than double that of public universities, which stands at 8.9%.

In addition to student enrollment, the IVIE and BBVA Foundation study highlights the University of Valencia among the most relevant Spanish centers in international research. The UV is the fourth of the country's seven public universities that exceed 2,000 scientific publications annually co-authored with foreign researchers.