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Introduction: Academic engagement refers to the predisposition that students must actively participate in university life, attending classes, turning in work on time, and following teachers' instructions. There is evidence that shows that academic engagement positively predicts student success. For this reason, its evaluation is of great relevance for university education when designing pedagogical practices that stimulate student engagement. The aim of this study was to adapt and validate the University Student Engagement Inventory (USEI) into Spanish, considering linguistic and cultural differences in three Spanish-speaking countries. Methods: 921 university students from Spain, Argentina and Uruguay participated in the study. The USEI, which consists of 15 statements grouped into three dimensions of engagement -behavioral, cognitive, emotional-was administered. Results: After three translators made the linguistic adaptation of the instrument, nine expert judges analyzed the content of the items, retaining as a result the totality of the items. Subsequently, the internal structure of the instrument was analyzed and verified -confirmatory factor analysis, cross-validation, factorial invariance, internal consistency-. Adequate evidence of concurrent external validity between USEI dimensions and learning approaches was also obtained. Conclusion: A Spanish version of the USEI was obtained with adequate psychometric properties that can be used in the field of application with the purpose of identifying students' academic engagement and proposing actions aimed at improving their learnings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]