Studying abroad has become too expensive for many, believes ANSA President Sine Schei. Here is the list of the most popular universities for Norwegians abroad.
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The number of Norwegian students who want to study abroad is declining. The trend started before covid, but was intensified by the pandemic, according to an overview Lånekassen presents on Wednesday.
Most Norwegian students are in the UK, but this is also where the decline is greatest. Fewer also apply to Denmark and the USA.
– One reason why the number of students has decreased a lot in the US and the UK, is probably that these countries have high tuition fees. When we have had a weak krone for several years, it has made it more expensive to study there, explains Morten Rosenkvist, director of the State Loan Fund.
–– It is expensive
The decline is particularly large among students starting at a degree abroad.
The trend began in 2016–2017, and reached a bottom level in the pandemic year 2020–2021. This year, the number is slightly higher, but only 5,300 Norwegian students started on a degree abroad this year, compared to almost 7,700 in the “peak year” 2015-2016.
The decline has been greater among bachelor students than among master’s students.
President Sine Schei of ANSA (The International Students’ Organization), also thinks it is about the Lånekassen’s reduced support:
– It is expensive to go abroad. In recent years, some of what used to be scholarships have been converted into loans. This means that you leave the program with even higher loans than before. The weak Norwegian krone has also made it financially risky for many, says Schei.
She herself experienced how the euro rose from 10 to 13 kroner during her own studies in the Netherlands.
– It amounts to quite a lot of money when the rent is to be paid, she says.
Believes Brexit has affected
Both believe that the discussions about Brexit, long before the British left the EU, have had some effect.
– Many have probably investigated how it would, for example, affect the right to health care, Rosenkvist believes.
Schei agrees that Brexit early on created great uncertainty about what it would be like to study in the UK.
–She also points to a Norwegian change that may have affected some:
– There have been several examples of cases where Norwegian students who had taken a professional education abroad, such as the psychology students from ELTE University in Hungary, did not receive authorization when they returned to Norway. Although the authorization for the vast majority goes just fine, these examples may have contributed to the fact that it seemed unsafe to go abroad to study, says Schei.
Medicine and business are the two most popular subjects to study abroad.
The most popular universities for Norwegians abroad
- Copenhagen Business School, Danmark
- Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland
- University of Pécs, Hungary
- Comenius University, Martin, Slovakia
- Aarhus University, Denmark
- University of Copenhagen, Denmark
- University of Southern Denmark, Denmark
- Medical University of Gdansk, Poland
- Semmelweis University of Medicine, Hungary
- Riga Stradins University, Latvia
The list shows which universities have been most popular with Norwegian degree students in 2021–22. Source: Lånekassen.
For exchange students, the number has been stable for many years.
– It fell sharply during the pandemic, but it is completely natural. We assume that it will return to normal levels from next year, says Rosenkvist.
In the «peak year» 2015–2016, a total of 25,400 Norwegians studied abroad with support from the Loan Fund. This year the number is 19,300.
The ten most popular countries for Norwegian students
- Great Britain
- Denmark
- USA
- Poland
- The Netherlands
- Spain
- Italia
- France
- Germany
- Australia
–The Netherlands is one of the countries that is increasing in popularity among Norwegian students.
– The Netherlands is not that far away, it is culturally similar to us and many universities offer teaching in English from the beginning. That, in addition to lower school fees, probably comes into play, Rosenkvist believes.
Medicine has been the most popular study program for Norwegian graduate students for several years. This year, 3,000 Norwegians are studying medicine abroad – which is at the same level as in recent years.
Almost half of all newly qualified doctors in Norway have studied in another country.
– This is because there are far too few study places in relation to the need for doctors in Norway, and because so many want to become doctors, explains director of Lånekassen, Morten Rosenkvist.
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