The objective of this study was the validation of the Spanish version of the Quality of Life Index. A non-random sample of 3384 technical and university level healthy students was selected, in addition, data were collected from 386 students who reported being hypertensive. A battery of psychological tests that mediate quality of life, psychological well-being and life satisfaction as well as a measure of academic stress were included. The exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the unifactorial nature of the QLI-Sp and support its use to measure perception of quality of life in university students. The reliability was adequate (α=0.93). To further explore the validity of the QLI-Sp, data from 396 students who reported being hypertensive were examined. The relatively healthy group had higher scores on all QLI-Sp items relative to the hypertensive group. In the final model, positive correlations were found between the QLI-Sp items with psychological well-being (self-perception, autonomy, mastery of the environment, purpose in life), with satisfaction with life and negative correlation with academic stress.