Universidade Aberta
Universidade Aberta (UAb), a public distance-teaching university, embraces as its basic mission to train students whom, for whatever reasons, where not able at the appropriate time, to enter or complete higher education studies. At the same time, Universidade Aberta tries to meet the expectations of all those who, having obtained a university qualification, wish to convert or update it. This means that, by vocation, Universidade Aberta tries try to answer the expectations of an adult public with life experience and for the most part already pursuing a professional career.
Universidade Aberta, as a pioneer institution in distance higher education in Portugal and the main national centre of expertise, in the area, developed the know-how that allows it to be the biggest provider of on-line courses in the country. Nowadays, Universidade Aberta plays a prominent role in 1st cycle (graduation) and 2nd cycle (master's) teaching, in the domains of Humanities, Education Sciences, Exact, Technological and Environment Sciences, Management, and Social Sciences.
Universidade Aberta gives an important contribution to the knowledge society, the building of which is one of its main tasks, by defining as its core strategy the digital inclusion.
Studying in UAb is a social inclusion factor due to digital literacy: since on-line teaching requires specific skills from the students, all its certified programs will include a free preparatory course. Therefore, students are able to acquire the necessary skills before entering the program in which they have enrolled.