According to that decree all superior institutes of engineering were of university level, they were allowed to award bachelors, masters and doctorates.

It remodeled all courses to a 6 semesters (3 years) bacharelato degrees in several technical engineering specializations, until the late 1990s.

In the mid-2000s ISEC adopted new more selective admission rules which were imposed to every Portuguese higher education institution by the State.

After 2006, with the approval of new legislation and the Bologna Process, ISEC, like any other polytechnic or university institution of Portugal, is legally able to provide a first 3-year study cycle, known as licenciatura plus a second 2-year cycle which confer the master's degree (in some cases this higher degree may be awarded in cooperation with a partner university) .

The library also provides access to Hemerotheca archives containing 100 volumes of specialized published periodicals organized in alphabetical order of the work's title.