IN SWEDEN

The Changing
Face of Higher IN SWEDEN
GRAPHIC DESIGN &
FIGURES: Lena Ernstson
Information Office at the National Agency
for Higher Education
ISBN 91-85027-05-7
third edition PRINTED BY
Lenanders Grafiska AB,
Kalmar, May, 2003
 Contents
Trends and tendencies 2 Organisation and teaching Education without frontiers 24
A high proportion of Sweden’s GDP posts 12 A global education market 25
is spent on higher education 3 Organisational structures at Contract training or commissioned
Sweden tops the OECD statistics for institutions of higher education 13 education 25
R&D 3 Teaching posts 14 Recognising foreign degrees 26
Education policy 3 Increased mobility between
Universities as knowledge centres 3 Undergraduate education 16 Sweden and other countries 26
Internationalisation 4 Courses, programmes and credit Exchange programmes 28
Flexible education and training points 17 Socrates/Erasmus 28
using IT 4 Degrees 17 Linnæus/Palme 29
The third priority 4 Funding undergraduate education 18 The Visby Programme 29
Research and postgraduate training 4 Admissions to undergraduate The Nordplus Programme 29
education 18 Others 29
Changes in Swedish higher The Swedish scholastic aptitude
education 6 test 19 Research at the highest
The expansion of institutions of higher Funding for students 19 international level 30
education 7 Women and men alike 21 Funding of research and
More and more students in higher Social and ethnic diversity 21 postgraduate training 31
education 7 Life-long learning 22 External resources 32
The higher education sector today 8 Distance learning 22 A new organisational structure
The reforms of 1977 and 1993 8 Information technology 23 for research funding 32
Postgraduate training 32
High standards of education 10 Admission to postgraduate training 32
Postgraduate training and degrees 33
Study funding in postgraduate training 33
Research information on the Internet 34

Addresses etc. 35
Trends and tendencies
Trends and
tendencies
• • •  • • •
A high proportion of Sweden’s GDP is
spent on higher education
Sweden has a high ranking in relation to a number of
indicators relating to resources devoted to higher edu-
cation and research. Sweden spends 1.8 per cent of its
gross domestic product (GDP) on higher education and
research. This proportion includes R&D performed at
institutions of higher education.
Sweden tops the OECD statistics for
R&D
The total cost of R&D in Sweden amounted to approx-
imately 75,800 million kronor. This corresponds to 3.85
per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) and puts
Sweden at the top of the OECD figures. Three-quarters
of this was carried out by private companies, 22 per
cent in the higher education sector and the remainder
in other areas of the public sector and in the non-profit
private sector.
• • •  • • •
Education policy
The Government has set objectives of 50 per cent of a
year group of young people attending institutions of hig-
her education and providing more study places in higher
education for the natural sciences and engineering. A
more general objective is to increase the social and
ethnic diversity of higher education, by such means as
revising the rules governing eligibility and admission. In
2001, a Government bill proposed measures to expand
recruitment to universities and university colleges and
open new paths to higher education.
Universities as knowledge centres
It is being ever more widely recognised that institutions
of higher education are important players in the know-
ledge society and in regional development. They are
facing a number of challenges, however. It is not easy
to attract students to programmes of education in eng-
ineering and the natural sciences. Institutions of higher
education have obtained a growing degree of autonomy
and independence. High quality demands entail that
institutions of higher education have to undergo con-
tinuous quality evaluations that are sharply focused on
outcomes. The teaching staff is growing older and there
are signs that it is becoming more difficult to recruit new
staff in certain fields.
Internationalisation
The internationalisation of higher education is becoming
more and more prominent, thanks to such phenomena
as increased student exchanges. The emerging global
education market is also making itself felt and with it
growing competition for students both within Sweden
and among the universities and other institutions of
higher education around the world. The higher educa-
tion bill from 2001 stated that international mobility
should be further promoted.
Flexible education and training using IT
Information technology is providing unprecedented
opportunities for distance learning and thus also for
lifelong learning. Swedish institutions of higher educa-
tion have been quick to take advantage of IT and in
Sweden today all students have access to the Internet.
The third priority
Contacts and collaboration with business and industry,
public sector activities, culture and adult education must
become a natural part of the activities of higher educa-
tion. Alongside education and research, collaboration
with the surrounding community and external informa-
tion about its activities are becoming a major priority for
institutions of higher education. This was made explicit
in the Higher Education Ordinance in 1996, and is now
generally known as the Third Priority.
Research and postgraduate training
Tougher international competition is also affecting Swe-
den in its role as a research nation. One of the reasons
underlying the new organisation of research councils in
Sweden was precisely the desire on the part of policy-
makers to concentrate energies in certain future-oriented
research fields by way of a completely new organisational
structure for research funding.
• • •  • • •
 Postgraduate training in Sweden is of crucial
significance. Society has a growing need of scientifi-
cally and academically trained individuals. Postgraduate
training has recently been reformed, with new demands
being made in relation to more secure funding of post-
• • •  • • •
graduate students and greater effectiveness in their
progress towards taking a degree. An intensive follow-
up and evaluation effort will be made in relation to the
reforms undertaken in this field.
The first Swedish university was founded in 1477 in Upp-
sala. During the Great Power Era additional universities
were founded in an endeavour to make the new territories
more Swedish: Tartu in Livonia (present-day Estonia), in
1632,Turku (Åbo), in Finland, in 1640, and Lund in
Skåne (conquered from Denmark), in 1668.

Changes in Swedish higher education

Changes in Swedish
higher education
• • •  • • •
The expansion of institutions of higher
education
As in other countries, higher education in Sweden
expanded during the second half of the 20th century.
With more and more people having the opportunity
to study at colleges and universities, higher education
is no longer reserved for the few. In the mid-1940s,
higher education in Sweden was provided at the
universities of Uppsala and Lund, at the university
colleges of Stockholm and Göteborg and at a num-
ber of specialised professional institutions of higher
education in the fields of medicine, economics and
technology. In accordance with the recommendations
of a consecutive series of central Government commis-
sions, higher education has subsequently expanded.
The most recent institutions of higher education to
be granted university status are Öre bro, Karlstad
and Växjö, whose authorisation was approved in
1999.
• • •  • • •
More and more students in higher
education
The number of students increased from 16,000 in 1950
to over 330,000 in 1999.
In the early 1950s the number of new students
enrolling annually was 4,000 and the number of degrees
taken was 3,000 per year. (The data include postgra-
duate students.) By the end of the 1950s the number of
students in higher education had doubled. The greatest
expansion occurred in the 1960s. At the end of the
1960s there were over three times as many students
in higher education as at the start of the decade. The
number of degrees taken also increased.
The reform of higher education in 1977 extended
the definition of higher education and the number of
students increased still further. In the following years
it remained constant, until at the end of the 1980s a
new period of expansion commenced which continued
throughout the 1990s.
 In the academic year of 2000/2001, there were
330,000 students in undergraduate education. 72,100
of these were new students. The number of degrees
taken was 31,800. In the fiscal year of 2000/2001there
were18,100 active postgraduate students.
The higher education sector today
Today there are about fifty institutions of higher educa-
tion in Sweden run by either central Government, re-
gional authorities or private organisers. The designation
of university means an institution has the unrestricted
right to award PhDs.
The state-run part of the higher education sector
comprises 11 universities plus the Karolinska Institute
and the Royal Institute of Technology, 7 independent
colleges of art and 16 university colleges. In all there
are 36 state-run institutions of higher education. (see
the list on p. 35)
The reforms of 1977 and 1993
The higher education system was reshaped by two com-
prehensive reforms in 1977 and 1993. In conjunction
with the reform of 1977 practically all post upper-secon-
dary education was brought together under the overall
concept of higher education. The volumes and location
of higher education and the organisational structure
of the institutions were regulated in some detail by
central Government from 1977 to 1993. For instance,
Parliament decided the number of student places to be
allocated to every general study programme and institu-
tion of higher education.
A new Higher Education Act and a new Higher
Education Ordinance came into force in 1993. This
legislation reduced the detailed influence of central Go-
vernment, and a decentralisation of decision-making was
implemented. The reform involved central Government
— once it had laid down certain goals and guidelines
of a predominantly financial character — transferring
• • •  • • •
decisions about the orientation of the programmes of
education in undergraduate education to the institutions
of higher education themselves in the form of three-
year assignments. Every institution of higher education
functions as an admissions agency and makes decisions
on the admission of students on the basis of certain
• • •  • • •
general guidelines. An important objective of the 1993
reform of higher education was to give students a grea-
ter opportunity of choosing courses for themselves and
combining them into a degree. A Degree Ordinance
stipulates the degrees that may be taken.
High standards of education
High standards
of education
• • •  • • •
Swedish institutions of higher education are inde-
pendent bodies and report directly to the Government
regarding their activities, their quality and their quality
management. They are committed to developing educa-
tional standards. Measures for improving the situation of
students include new teaching methods, for instance.
The National Agency for Higher Education super-
vises, promotes and assesses the quality of institutions
of higher education. One of the Agency’s tasks is to col-
lect and disseminate information about institutions of
higher education. An important function in this context
is to carry out quality audits. The Agency also performs
national evaluations. A national evaluation can relate to
subjects in undergraduate and postgraduate education,
entire programmes of education or specific aspects of
these, such as examinations. When a programme is
evaluated, performance is assessed at all institutions in
the country which offer it. In January 2001 this task
• • •  • • •
was extended to include evaluation of programmes and
subjects. Within a six year period all undergraduate and
postgraduate programmes are to be evaluated.
The main findings of the first year’s endeavours
are that in most cases quality is high and that the dif-
ferences between the various institutions are relatively
small. The problems that came to light were far from
unknown. They relate for instance to the problems of
low-volume programmes and the scarcity of resources
in many subjects.
Evaluations of subjects and programmes have
three main aims: to contribute to the development of
quality, assess whether a programme corresponds to the
objectives and provisions of the Higher Education Act
and the Higher Education Ordinance and also provide
information for students, for instance, when they choose
a programme.
Organisation and teaching posts
Organisation and
teaching posts
• • •  • • •
Organisational structures at
institutions of higher education
The internal organisation of institutions of higher edu-
cation is decided by the institutions themselves. Certain
guidelines are laid down in the Higher Education Act
and the Higher Education Ordinance.
Each institution of higher education has a board
of governors. The Government appoints the Chair of
the board who is not employed at the institution of
higher education in question. The board is composed
of the Chair, the Vice-Chancellor and not more than
thirteen other members. The Government appoints the
majority of the members of the board of governors.
The representatives of the teaching staff are chosen by
election within the institution of higher education.
The students have the right to be represented by three
members. Employee representatives have the right to
attend and to speak at board meetings.
The Vice-Chancellor is nominated by the board
and employed by Government decision for not more
than six years. Other board members are appointed for
a period of not more than three years. A Pro-Vice-Chan-
• • •  • • •
cellor is the Vice-Chancellor’s deputy. More than one
Pro-Vice-Chancellor may be appointed. An institution
of higher education may also appoint Pro-Vice-Chancel-
lors with responsibility for parts of its operations.
Institutions of higher education which have been
given the right to award doctoral degrees shall have at
least one faculty board. If an institution of higher educa-
tion should not create specific decision-making bodies
for undergraduate education, the faculty boards are also
to be responsible for the undergraduate education car-
ried out in their area of study. The Dean of Faculty is the
Chair of the faculty board. In decision-making bodies
created for matters of research and undergraduate edu-
cation, the teaching staff is always to have the majority.
The students have the right to be represented by at least
two members on the faculty board and on other bodies
dealing with educational matters.
With the exception of the above-mentioned rules
concerning governing bodies, faculty boards and other
bodies, Swedish institutions of higher education may
themselves determine their internal organisational
structure and the decision-making bodies and boards
required for their purposes.
Teaching posts
The Higher Education Ordinance contains regulations
with respect to the employment of teaching staff at
institutions of higher education. The categories con-
cerned are: professors (including visiting professors),
senior lecturers (including visiting senior lecturers),
junior lecturers (including visiting junior lecturers),
postdoctoral fellows, part-time teachers (paid on an
hourly basis) and guest teachers. The institutions of
higher education make the decisions concerning the
professorships they wish to have. The rules for the
employment, recruitment and promotion of teach-
ing staff entail, for instance, that a senior lecturer
who satisfies the employment requirements of a pro-
fessor shall be employed as a professor. Educational
skills should be given greater weight in this kind of
promotion than used to be the case. In addition, explicit
recruitment objectives have been specified with a view
to increasing the number of women among newly-ap-
pointed professors.
All Swedish institutions of higher education are
expected to set objectives for recruiting more teaching
staff of any underrepresented sex. 36 per cent of teachers
and researchers are women, while rather more than 77
per cent of administrative staff are women. A noticea-
ble increase in the amount of research done by women
may be expected in the near future, as the proportion
of female post-graduate students has risen and is now
around 45 per cent. The proportion of female profes-
sors is 14 per cent. According to the Government, the
proportion of female professors should be able to rise
to 25 per cent by the year 2008.
• • •  • • •
 Swedish Universities and University Boden
Colleges run by central government, Luleå
regional authorities and private interests.

Umeå
Östersund Örnsköldsvik
Härnösand
Sundsvall

Falun
Borlänge Gävle

Filipstad
Arvika Västerås Uppsala
Karlstad Örebro Stockholm
Eskilstuna Huddinge
Vänersborg
Skövde Linköping
Trollhättan/Uddevalla
Jönköping
Göteborg Borås Visby
Växjö
Halmstad Kalmar
Kristianstad Ronneby
Karlskrona
Helsingborg
Malmö Lund

• • •  • • •
Undergraduate education
Undergraduate
education
• • •  • • •
Courses, programmes and credit points
All undergraduate education is provided in the form
of courses. These may be combined by the institution
providing them to create programmes of education
with a varying element of individual choice. Students
themselves are also able to combine different courses
into a degree.
The extent of a programme of education or a
course is measured in credit points. One credit point
corresponds to one week’s full-time study. An academic
year normally consists of 40 credit points, and is usually
divided into an autumn term and a spring term. In addi-
tion, certain institutions of higher education give courses
during the summer. One credit point corresponds to 1.5
ECTS (the European Credit Transfer System).
In the Degree Ordinance, the Government lays
down which degrees may be awarded and the objec-
tives for these degrees. Every course and programme
of education has a plan decided by the institution of
higher education in question. Degrees in undergraduate
education are divided into general degrees and profes-
sional degrees.
• • •  • • •
Degrees
Högskoleexamen (University Diploma) is obtained after
studies totalling at least 80 credit points (the equivalent
of two years’ full-time study).
Kandidatexamen (Bachelor’s degree) is obtained after stu-
dies totalling at least 120 credit points (the equivalent of
three years’ full-time study), of which 60 credit points
must be in the major subject. The major subject must also
include one thesis comprising at least 10 credit points.
Magisterexamen (Master’s degree). There are two types
of Magisterexamen: Magisterexamen med ämnesdjup is
awarded after studies of at least 160 credit points. In
the main subject, in-depth studies at the 80-credit level
are required, with an independent thesis worth at least
20 credit points or two worth at least 10 credit points
each; Magisterexamen med ämnesbredd is awarded after
studies of at least 40 credit points with a special orienta-
tion — decided by the university or university college
— to students with a degree of at least 120 credit points
or the equivalent.
Yrkesexamen (Professional degree)
In addition to the above-mentioned general academic de-
grees there are some sixty professional degrees for which
specific objectives are stated in the Degree Ordinance.
The professional degrees range in scope from 40 to 220
credit points. Medical qualifications, teacher training,
and degrees in engineering and agronomy are examples
of such professional degrees.
Funding undergraduate education
Institutions of higher education receive an assignment
from the Government for each new three-year period.
The allocation of resources among institutions depends
on results measured in terms of students and academic
performance.
The assignments stipulate a minimum number
of degrees of a given type for the institution of higher
education in question. Objectives with respect to the
lowest number of students are set out for each fiscal
year. The assignment may also stipulate that the num-
ber of students must increase or diminish in certain
subject areas compared with the preceding three-year
period. There is a ceiling sum (maximum funding)
which constitutes the highest compensation for
students and academic performance permitted for the
fiscal year in question.
The amounts of economic compensation are deter-
mined annually by central Government and set out in its
annual budget. At the institutions of higher education,
all courses are classified by subject area. This classifica-
tion determines the compensation that will be obtained.
Compensation to institutions of higher education per
capita in the fiscal year 2002 for full-time students
who complete their courses on schedule varies between
30,098 kronor for the humanities, theology, law and the
social sciences and 383,627 kronor for operatic training.
Per capita compensation in the fields of technology and
the natural sciences is 73,530 kronor, and in medicine
108,462 kronor per student.
Admissions to undergraduate education
To be admitted to undergraduate education the app-
licant must satisfy the basic eligibility requirements,
which are the same for all courses and programmes of
education. Basic eligibility is attained by completing
an upper secondary school programme and obtaining
a pass grade or better in courses covering at least 90 per
cent of the upper secondary credit points required in
the programme, or by providing proof of an equivalent
level of knowledge. People who are at least 25 years old,
who have been in work for four years and who have a
command of English and Swedish corresponding to that
1 US $ = 8.51 kronor (April 2003)
• • •  • • •
obtained by completing a national upper secondary pro-
gramme are also considered to have basic eligibility.
Most courses and programmes of education
also have course eligibility requirements that vary
depending on the subject area and the type of course.
Course eligibility requirements in courses open to new
students are set out in the form of standard eligibility
requirements. The National Agency for Higher Edu-
cation determines these for programmes leading to a
professional degree in accordance with the Degree Or-
dinance. Standard course requirements are set locally by
the institution of higher education in question.
If the number of qualified applicants for a course
or a programme exceeds the number of places allotted
for new students, a selection process is necessary. At least
a third of the places must be allocated on the basis of
upper secondary grades, and at least a third on the basis
of the Swedish Scholastic Aptitude Test.
Within a given framework, each institution of
higher education decides how students for its pro-
grammes of education will be selected, and whether
selection will take place locally or be co-ordinated by
the National Admissions Office to Higher Education,
VHS (www.vhs.se). The VHS is primarily funded by
the institutions of higher education themselves.
The rules currently in force for admission to higher
education have been the subject of intense debate since
• • •  • • •
their introduction in 1997, and it is likely that they will
be modified in a few years time.
The Swedish scholastic aptitude test
The Swedish scholastic aptitude test measures know-
ledge and skills of importance for successful studies in
higher education. It was introduced in 1977 and is well-
established in Sweden. It is taken by more than 80,000
prospective students every year. The test is voluntary,
but it may well increase an applicant’s chances of being
admitted to higher education.
There is also a special test for partially sighted app-
licants using Braille or tape cassettes. Pilot projects are
also being done using a special test for dyslectics which
allows them 50 per cent longer to do the test.
In addition to grades and the Swedish Scholastic
Aptitude Test, selection from qualified applicants can also
be made on the basis of previous training, work expe-
rience or special tests, such as interviews or skills tests.
Funding for students
It is possible for students to obtain state support to finance
their studies in higher education. Financial support for
students is also available for studies abroad. This support
consists of study grants and study loans in combination.
• • •  • • •
 To obtain financial support for studies certain re-
quirements must be met. If students have an income,
the amount of support may be reduced. To receive study
support over a period of years, students must pursue
their studies with a certain rate of success.
Foreign students may receive this support if they
have been Swedish residents for two years or more. Stu-
dents who are in Sweden solely for their studies are not
eligible for this support. The National Board of Student
Aid, CSN, administers the various forms of study sup-
port for students in higher education (www.csn.se).
Women and men alike
More women than men study at Swedish universities
and colleges. About 60 per cent of those studying are
women. Despite the even distribution of the sexes in
the Swedish student body in general, the distribution
is very uneven in certain programmes. More and more
women now choose engineering programmes, but there
are still only 27 per cent female students registered for
graduate engineering. The proportion of men registered
for health sciences programmes is 14 per cent.
At institutions of higher education various activi-
ties take place with the aim of improving gender equality.
Many studies and inquiries have been conducted and
• • •  • • •
some institutions of higher education have introduced
new programmes better adapted to female students.
Measures have also been taken to make it easier for
women to continue with postgraduate training.
Social and ethnic diversity
There is a relatively high degree of social skew in the
recruitment of students to higher education. The pro-
bability that an individual from a well-off white collar
family will go on to higher education is six to seven
times greater than that an individual from a working-
class background will do so. The proportion of people
with a non-Swedish background in higher education
is 20 per cent, matching that in the population as a
whole. There may well be inequalities of representation
between different ethnic groups, however, and it has
been shown that skewed social representation is also
relatively high in the group of students with non-Swe-
dish backgrounds.
Much is currently being done in higher education
to promote diversity. Diversity is regarded as an aspect
of quality, and in 1999, to highlight this still further,
the National Agency for Higher Education evaluated
all institutions of higher education in Sweden with
particular respect to social and ethnic diversity. The
results of the evaluation showed that institutions of
higher education vary considerably in the extent to
which they work actively to extend diversity in higher
education.
A number of different activities to promote diver-
sity take place at institutions of higher education. Some
examples of this are mentor activities, with students
visiting upper-secondary and compulsory nine-year
schools, and various forms of introductory courses. In
conjunction with the evaluation an anthology contain-
ing examples of such activities was published, with a
view to stimulating this kind of work, providing inspi-
ration and making good ideas more widely known.
In 2001 the Government presented a bill to open
the higher education system to traditionally underre-
presented groups, among them ethnic minorities. The
Government proposed that renewal of education pro-
grammes must be promoted and instititutions of higher
education must be able to offer courses better adapted
to students with varying background and experience.
The provision of life long and more flexible learning
should also be improved.
Life-long learning
The goal of the Government is that higher education
should form an important part of life-long learning.
Society, work and individual development all require
a continuous commitment to further education and
training. Sweden has a leading position internationally
regarding recurrent education and training.
Institutions of higher education have comprehen-
sive programmes for further education and training,
including contract training, distance learning, part-time
courses, evening classes and summer courses.
Distance learning
The Government is encouraging distance learning as a
means of reaching new groups of students. Institutions
of higher education provide hundreds of distance cour-
ses via the Internet using e-mail, video-conferences and
other methods. Students do their course-work at home
with the help of special instructions. Once or twice a
term, however, teachers and students meet to go through
course requirements, conduct seminars, do laboratory
work or take exams.
• • •  • • •
 In 2001 the Swedish Net University was launched as
a dual or multi-modal university based upon the courses
and education already given by the Swedish universities
and university colleges. As an initial incentive, these insti-
tutions of higher education will be given an extra disbur-
sement (totally 211 million kronor for year 2002) from
the Government, for courses given within the Swedish
Net University. Participation within the Net University
is voluntary for the universities and university colleges.
In order to run the project the Swedish Net University
Agency has been set up. The primary task for the agency
is to co-ordinate the different courses and education
given by the various Swedish universities. The agency
has an annual budget of about 35 million kronor.
Most of this funding will be used for different
purposes such as stimulating improvements in skills
and competence among distance education teachers and
other personnel. It will also be used to identify topics and
areas that would benefit from more distance education.
Furthermore the agency runs and develops this web-
• • •  • • •
based platform where the Swedish Net University and
its courses are presented (www.netuniversity.se).
Information technology
The use of information technology in higher educa-
tion affects everything from forms of teaching to
the development of new courses and programmes of
education. Institutions of higher education have a par-
ticular responsibility for providing cross-disciplinary
programmes in which IT is integrated with other areas
of education.
All students should learn to use IT for learning,
for advanced information-seeking, for communication
and for running simulations. All institutions of higher
education should have a strategy and an action plan for
their combined IT efforts.
A large number of IT projects in higher educa-
tion are run and funded by the Knowledge Foundation
(www.kks.se).
Education without fronti ers
Education
without frontiers
• • •  • • •
A global education market of higher education and to encorage international and
cultural understanding. Institutions of higher education
In recent decades, growing demands on higher educa-
should be able to organise contract training program-
tion and a shortage of higher education capacity in such
mes at the request of clients from countries outside the
regions of the world as Asia has led to the emergence
European Economic Area. However, the principle of
of a global education market with a current turnover of
studies without fees for indvidual students should con-
many billions of kronor. Students go abroad to obtain
tinue to apply to institutions of higher education with
international experience or to supplement their basic
Government grants.
training. Thousands of Swedish young people study
In early 2003 a website — www.studyin.sweden.se
languages and educate themselves in other countries.
— was launched offering comprehensive information
More and more countries compete to attract these in-
on higher education studies in Sweden for foreign
ternational students.
students.
The Government has declared that it is important
In 2002 the Government appointed an inquiry
that Swedish education and training is internationally
to review some issues relating to the degree structure,
competitive and that the proportion of foreign students
among them how Swedish degrees are translated. From
in Sweden should increase. This is also in accordance
1 January 2003 the Diploma Supplement has been
with European efforts to create a “European area of
implemented. The Diploma Supplement is intended
higher education”.
to facilitate recognition of Swedish degrees in other
The objective of the Bologna Declaration of 1999
countries.
is for European education systems to become more trans-
parent and comparable in order to facilitate mobility
and international competitiveness. European education
Contract training or commissioned
is to be organised in two main cycles, undergraduate and education
graduate (the latter covering masters and doctorates). Institutions of higher education also provide training
In a higher education bill in 2001, the Government for professionals. Employers in the common and pri-
stated that a greater number of foreign students should vate sectors can buy courses, programmes and custom-
be recruited to Sweden in order to increase the quality made training for their staff. This kind of education is

• • •  • • •
offered in various forms and participants may be
awarded credit points and certificates. Commissioned
education is growing and many institutions are now
establishing special units to meet demand.
Foreign government authorities, companies and
organisations can also enter into contracts with Swedish
universities and university colleges on commissioned
education. Several institutions have a long experience
of offering courses in English and are prepared to make
agreements with partners in other countries.
Commissioned education differs mainly from
regular higher education in that it is financed by the
customer and that participants do not apply individu-
ally. Therefore, price and content of the education is
agreed on and set out in the form of a contract, which
is drafted within the existing regulations concerning
commissioned education. The agreed price shall cover
costs but is not intended to give profit.
Recognising foreign degrees
An important instrument for facilitating the mobility
of students is assessing the equivalence of foreign higher
education qualifications.
The Government has commissioned the Na-
tional Agency for Higher Education to be the NARIC
(National Academic Recognition Information Centre) in
Sweden. In this way it forms part of a network dealing
with issues of academic recognition whose principal is
the European Commission. The Agency also forms
part of ENIC (European National Information Centre
on academic mobility and recognition), which is a net-
work whose principals are the Council of Europe and
UNESCO. The ENIC network is responsible for pro-
moting the application of the most recent convention
for the European region, the Convention on the Recog-
nition of Qualifications Concerning Higher Education
in the European Region, also referred to as the Lisbon
Recognition Convention.
The Swedish Institute, which is responsible for
informing other countries about Swedish higher educa-
tion, also forms part of the ENIC network.
The main aim of assessing academic equivalence is to
facilitate the entry of people with foreign higher edu-
cation into the Swedish labour market, but it is also
intended to facilitate international mobility for students
and graduates.
Increased mobility between Sweden
and other countries
International perspectives have made a great impact on
the activities of Swedish institutions of higher education.
They include everything from active participation in
• • •  • • •
• • •  • • •
exchange programmes to the provision of new courses
and course units dealing with international issues.
The importance of long-term contacts and colla-
boration efforts in the various arenas created by exchange
activities is being highlighted to an ever greater extent in
Sweden. International exchanges also contribute to an
increased knowledge production and enhanced quality
in Swedish education.
In 1989 it became possible for Swedish students
to use their Swedish study funding for studies abroad.
Above all, this gave rise to a great increase in the number
of Swedish students who elected to pursue a part or all
of their studies abroad. But it also made it possible to
increase the dimensions of exchanges between Swedish
and foreign universities. In 1992, Sweden joined the
Erasmus programme, which meant that institutions of
higher education built up an organisation for exchange
activities and drew up strategies and goals for their in-
ternationalisation efforts. There has been a great increase
in the number of courses and programmes provided in
English and in the number of courses in Swedish as a
foreign language. Most international students at Swedish
institutions of higher education are from EU states, but
in parallel with the EU programmes the number of ex-
change agreements with other countries is also growing,
as are collaboration efforts.
Just over 8,500 exchange students from other
countries were studying at Swedish institutions of higher
education in 2001, while some 6,000 Swedish students
participated in exchanges. The number of postgraduate
students on exchanges is some 800 in both directions.
The proportion of foreign postgraduate students ad-
mitted to a full programme of postgraduate training in
Sweden in the 1990s has remained constant at around
7 per cent.
Exchange programmes
There are many scholarship and exchange programmes
with the aim of promoting internationalisation and aca-
demic mobility. In addition to EU programmes, there
are a number of bilateral programmes between Sweden
and other countries funded by the Government and by
private funds and foundations. The following program-
mes provide funding for exchanges and cover a great
number of students in undergraduate education:
Socrates/Erasmus
Socrates/Erasmus is the largest exchange programme
in higher education in which Swedish institutions of
higher education participate. The number of incoming
students (approx 4,900 in 2000/2001) now exceeds the
• • •  • • •
number of outgoing students (2,700 in 2000/2001).
Most Swedish students travel to Great Britain, Germany
and France, and most foreign students come from Ger-
many, France, the Netherlands and Spain. The Inter-
national Programme Office for education and training
is responsible for running the Socrates programme in
Sweden (www.programkontoret.se).
Linnæus/Palme
The Linnæus/Palme Programme aims is to improve the
co-operation of Swedish institutions of higher education
with universities outside the OECD countries and thus
increase global contacts in the higher education commu-
nity. Swedish institutions of higher education are able to
apply for funding for student and teaching staff exchan-
ges with collaborating universities in other countries.
The programme is administered by the International
Programme Office (www.programkontoret.se) and
funded by the Swedish International Development
Co-operation Agency, Sida.
The Visby Programme
Since 1997 the Visby Programme has helped promote
contacts and exchanges in the education sector between
Sweden and five other Baltic countries: Estonia, Latvia,
Lithuania, Poland and north-western Russia. In 2000
• • •  • • •
Belarus, the Ukraine and the Moscow region were in-
cluded. The programme is administered by the Swedish
Institute (www.si.se) and was initiated by the Swedish
Government.
The Nordplus Programme
The Nordplus Programme was launched in 1988 and is
an exchange programme between the Nordic countries:
Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Norway and Sweden. It
covers both student exchanges and exchanges of teaching
staff. The programme is administered by SIU — Cen-
tre for International University Cooperation in Norway
(www.siu.no).
Others
The following programmes and organisations fund
scholarships mainly at postgraduate level: the Swe-
dish Institute’s Guest Scholarship Programme; the
Sweden-America Foundation for the USA and Ca-
nada (www.sweamfo.se); the Fulbright Commission
(USA) (http://www.usemb.se/Fulbright/index.html);
and the Swedish Foundation for International Coope-
ration in Research and Higher Education, STINT
(www.stint.se), which funds exchanges between Swe-
den and certain countries outside Europe and North
America.
Research at the high est in ter na tio nal level
Research at the highest
international level
• • •  • • •
Sweden allocates some 3.85 per cent of its resources
to research and development (R&D). The higher
education sector is responsible for just over a fifth of
the resources spent on R&D in Sweden. Most R&D is
conducted within private sector companies.
By far the greatest part of publicly funded research
takes place at institutions of higher education. Thus
institutions of higher education have a central role in
the Swedish research system, not merely because they
constitute the traditional base for research and post-gra-
duate training, but also because they conduct research
on behalf of sectoral public agencies and the private
sector. Research activities also have great significance
for undergraduate education.
Swedish research is remarkably wide-ranging and
is particularly eminent in the natural sciences, medi-
cine and technology. Mathematics, the natural sciences,
medicine and technology are the largest areas of research
both by volume and by cost.
In the humanities and the social sciences, institu-
tions of higher education put particular emphasis on
research into the media, mass communications, business
and enterpreneurship, education and the theory and
practice of learning, ethnicity and gender. Research
into care and health is given high priority in the field
of medicine. In the field of engineering, research into
• • •  • • •
biotechnology and sustainable development (life-sci-
ence) is given special priority.
There are sixteen schools of research offering one-
year preparatory courses in research for those aiming to
study towards a PhD. The courses include several small
commissioned research projects. The schools also offer
courses as part of an organised collaborative programme
involving a range of subjects and institutions of higher
education. Special efforts are made to ensure the best
possible teaching standards and to promote national
and international networking. Each school has a host
university or university college.
Funding of research and postgraduate
training
Research and postgraduate training is funded by way of
special state grants to the institutions of higher education
in question. The resources for research and postgraduate
training are distributed to the four areas of research.
There is also a special item to cover compensation for
such costs as rent of premises. Certain conditions are
attached to the grants. For instance, a certain propor-
tion of the grant must be used to fund postgraduate
training. A special grant for artistic development work
is distributed to colleges of art.
External resources
Grants from the national budget for undergraduate
education and research/postgraduate training, which
are allocated directly to state-run institutions of higher
education, make up about 60 per cent of the resources
of these institutions of higher education. The remaining
portion comprises external resources for research and
contract work mostly provided by research councils and
sectoral agencies, together with local authorities, county
councils and companies in the private sector. Revenues
from contract research are growing. Almost all research
assignments go to institutions of higher education with
the right to award postgraduate degrees.
Funding from the EU is mainly from the EU’s
fifth framework programme. Swedish applications have
been relatively successful, although Swedish institutions
of higher education tend to submit comparatively few
applications.
A new organisational str ucture for research
funding
From 1 January 2001, the Swedish Research Council
took over the activities previously pursued by the Swe-
dish Council for Planning and Coordination of Re-
search (FRN), the Swedish Council for Research in the
Humanities and Social Sciences (HSFR), the Swedish
Medical Research Council (MFR), the Swedish Natural
Science Research Council (NFR) and the Swedish Re-
search Council for Engineering Sciences (TFR). There
are three scientific councils in the Swedish Research
Council: one for humanities and the social sciences, one
for medicine and one for the natural and engineering
sciences. There is also a Committee for Educational
Science. The Swedish Research Council is an agency
under the auspices of the Ministry of Education and
Science (www.vr.se).
In addition, there is a Research Council for Wor-
king Life and Social Issues (www.fas.forskning.se) and
a Research Council for Environmental, Agricultural
Science and Spatial Planning Issues (www.formas.se).
A new agency has also been set up to fund research and
development that promotes innovation and sustainable
development and growth (www.vinova.se).
Postgraduate training
Admission to postgraduate training
Postgraduate training builds on a completed pro-
gramme of undergraduate education of at least 120
credit points with at least 60 credit points in the
research subject. Furthermore, the faculty board in
question may add other requirements for admission.
An assessment is also made of an applicant’s ability to
complete postgraduate studies.
• • •  • • •
Postgraduate training and degrees
There are four areas of academic study in postgraduate
training, namely the humanities and the social sciences,
medicine, the natural sciences and engineering & tech-
nology.
Postgraduate training nominally comprises 160
credit points (four years) and leads to a doktorsexamen
(PhD). A Licentiatexamen (Licentiate degree) may be
taken after two years and comprises at least 80 credit
points.
A PhD student must complete a number of courses
and write a doctoral thesis. Each student has the right
to personal supervision. The thesis, which constitutes
the most important part of postgraduate training must
be defended at a public oral examination.
Institutions with the right to award postgraduate
degrees are the universities plus the Karolinska Institute,
the Royal Institute of Technology, Chalmers University
of Technology, the Swedish University of Agricultural
Sciences, the Stockholm School of Economics and the
University College of Jönköping. Many of the other
institutions of higher education in Sweden collaborate
with these institutions in the organisation of research
training.
Certain institutions of higher education also have
the possibility of establishing one or more so-called areas
of research after assessment and approval.
• • •  • • •
The University College of Kalmar has been
granted the area of research of Natural Science, the
Blekinge Institute of Technology the area of research of
Technology and the University College of Malmö the
area of research of Medicine. The University College
of Mälardalen has been granted the area of research of
Technology and the Mid-Sweden University College
the area of research of Natural Science. Within these
designated areas of research, the university colleges
in question have the right to carry out postgraduate
training and award postgraduate degrees.
In addition to the above mentioned institutions
of higher education, a university college may be autho-
rised with respect to a given area of research. Within
the designated area of research, the university college in
question has the right to carry out post-graduate training
and award postgraduate degrees.
Some of the other institutions of higher educa-
tion in Sweden collaborate with these institutions in
the organisation of research training.
Study funding in postgraduate training
Postgraduate training is financed out of the funding
allocated to each faculty. There is also funding from
external sources such as research councils. The faculty
boards decide whether the ear-marked resources should
be used for postgraduate posts or for study grants. Both
posts and grants run for four years. A grant may also be
shared between two postgraduate students. Postgraduate
students holding postgraduate posts are obliged to con-
centrate on their studies, but are allowed to combine
them with teaching or other work to a limited extent.
A relatively common way of financing postgraduate
studies is to combine them with work on a research
project which may be externally funded by a research
council or a sectoral agency. Only applicants employed
in a postgraduate post or awarded a study grant may
be admitted to postgraduate training. In other cases the
applicant must have guaranteed study funding from
other sources for the whole period of study.
Research information on the Internet
Forskning.se (www.forskning.se) is a website devoted
to Swedish research. All the material published on the
site is based on research findings and scientific know-
ledge. Major target groups include schools, the media,
the business community and interested members of the
general public.
The purpose of forskning.se is to awaken interest
in research as a source of knowledge, insight and deve-
lopment. It aims to ensure that the fruits of research find
useful application in working life and the community, to
encourage debate and discussion and to make it easier to
find and understand information about research.
The website is financed and maintained by the
four Government bodies responsible for research
funding in Sweden: the Swedish Council for Working
Life and Social Research (FAS), the Swedish Research
Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences
and Spatial Planning (Formas), the Swedish Agency
for Innovation Systems (VINNOVA) and the host
authority, the Swedish Research Council (Vetenskaps-
rådet).
• • •  • • •
Addresses etc. may be found at http://www.hsv.se/english
Universities and university colleges in Sweden
Universities and In sti tu tions of University Colleges University Colleges of Arts
Higher Education with the right to S TAT E S TAT E
award postgraduate degrees Borås University College University College of Dance
S TAT E Dalarna University College University College of Film, Radio, Televsion and
Uppsala Univer sity Gotland University College Theatre
Lund Univer sity Gävle University College University College of Arts, Craft and Design
Göteborg University Halmstad University College Royal University College of Fine Arts
Stockholm University Kristianstad University College Royal University College of Music in
Umeå University Skövde University College Stockholm
Linköping University Stockholm University College of Physical Stockholm University College of Opera
Karolinska Institute Education and Sports Stockholm University College of Acting
Royal Institute of Technology, KTH Stockholm Institute of Education
Luleå University of Technology Södertörn University College R EG I O N A L AU T H O R I T Y
The Swedish University of Agricultural Trollhättan/Uddevalla University Ingesund College of Music
Sciences College
Karlstad University PR I VAT E S EC TO R
Växjö University PR I VAT E S EC TO R University College of Music Education in
Örebro University Erica Foundation Stockholm
Blekinge Institute of Technology Ersta Sköndal University College
Kalmar University College Gammelkroppa School of Forestry
Malmö University College Johannelund Theological Institute
Mid-Sweden University College Stockholm School of Theology
Mälardalen University College Örebro Theological Seminary

PR I VAT E S EC TO R A number of institutions with psychotherapy

Chalmers University of Technology programmes
Stockholm School of Economics
Jönköping University College
The Swedish Education System
PhD 2 years * * Minimum requirements
PhD
4 years *
Licentiate 2 years
AGE

24 Adult education 6) University diploma 5) Masters degree

2–5,5 years * 4 years * Bachelor's degrees Diploma Single courses
3 years * 2 years *
PROFESSIONAL DEGREES GENERAL DEGREES

HIGHER EDUCATION – UNIVERSITIES & UNIVERSITY COLLEGES

19
UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL 4)
16
COMPULSORY SCHOOL 3)

2)
7
PRE-SCHOOL CLASS 1)
PRE-SCHOOL

1)
The pre-school class is a new
school form, which was introduced
in 1998, replacing the special activities
previously run for six-year olds within
4)
the framework of the pre-school. The
curriculum for compulsory education
is also valid for the pre-school class.
2)
Children have the possibility to start
compulsory school at the age of six,
if their parents so desire.
3)
In 1995, a new curriculum was
introduced in the nine-year
compulsory school. From the
start of school-year 1998/99, the
curricula have been amended to
cover not only compulsory schooling,
but also the pre-school class and the
after school centre.
5)
In the new integrated upper
secondary school implemented
between 1992 and 1995, all educa-
tion is organised in terms of 16 dif-
ferent national programmes. All the
upper secondary school programmes
contain the same eight core subjects,
Swedish/Swedish as a second langu-
age, English, social studies, religious
studies, mathematics, science, sport
and health as well as artistic activities.
In addition to these core subjects,
pupils study subjects specific to a
programme.
There are, apart from the general
degrees, around 50 specifically profes-
sionally oriented diplomas described
in the Government degree ordinance.
Diplomas primarily concern profes-
sions requiring authorisation or regist-
ration e.g. pro-grammes for doctors
and teachers that may cover periods
ranging from two to five and a half
years.
6)
The adult education system com-
prises municipal adult education,
education for adults with intel-
lectual disabilities, and Swedish tui-
tion for immigrants and two state
schools for adults. Other forms of
adult education are offered by folk
high schools and adult education
associations.
Source: “The Swedish Education Sys-
tem” June 1999, EURYDICE, The Swe-
dish Ministry of Education and Science
PHOTOS:
page 2 page 10 page 12
Turistrådet, Jan Kofod Winther Skånes Göteborg Carina Andersson
New York Turistråd &Co
Svenska Institutet Chad Ehlers J. Halaska
Björkliden, P. Chris-
Bosse Lind Partners Reklambyrå Hotell Fjället tensen
page 16 page 20 page 24
Partners Glasriket, Göran Assner Stena Line
Reklambyrå Bengt Joachim Keitel Peter Grant
Peter R. Ryan Publicum
Lundberg Peter Grant
Grant
Partners
Peter Grant Bosse Lind
Reklambyrå
Skoklos-
page 27 Udo Haafke Hans Hammar-
terspelen
skiöld
Smålands Ralf Schröder Skansen
Turistråd
page 30
Udo Haafke Göteborg&Co
Turistrådet,
Partners Partners New York
Udo Haafke
Reklambyrå Reklambyrå Turistrådet,
H. Nelsäter
New York

The National Agency for Higher Education was established in 1995 as
the national agency for matters concerning institutions of higher edu-
cation. The Agency has responsibilities in relation to monitoring and
evaluation, issues of quality and educational innovation, supervision
and the protection of legal rights, study information and international
matters within the higher education sector.
The Swedish Institute is a public agency entrusted with disseminating
knowledge about Sweden abroad and arranging exchanges with other
countries in the fields of culture, education, research and other sec-
tors of public life. The Institute produces a rich array of information
material about Sweden. Its publications may be obtained directly from
the Institute or from Swedish embassies and consulates abroad.

Box 7851, SE-103 99 Stockholm, Sweden • Phone: +46 8 563 085 00 Box 7434, SE-103 91 Stockholm, Sweden • Phone: + 46 8 789 20 00
Fax: +46 8 563 085 50 • E-mail: hsv@hsv.se • Web site: www.hsv.se Fax: +46 20 72 48 • E-mail: si@si.se • Web site: www.si.se
ISBN 91-85027-05-7