The Norwegian system of higher education comprises all the institutions and/or programmes that are accredited. With the exception of some private university colleges, all higher education institutions are state-run. In general, tuition is not required for study at Norwegian higher education institutions, although fees may be imposed for certain professional education programmes, further and special education programmes and studies at private institutions.
In addition to their teaching activities, all the higher learning institutions, and particularly the universities, are responsible for conducting basic research as well as researcher training, primarily by means of graduate-level studies and doctoral degree programmes.
Student mobility and international cooperation are key objectives for the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research. Currently, over 12,000 foreign students are studying in Norway and we look forward to welcoming many more.
Norway is one of the leading countries conforming to the guidelines from the Bologna Process in European higher education. The degree system based on the Bachelor’s, Masters and Ph.D. structure has been successfully implemented, together with the ECTS credits system. By adapting to the European standard in higher education it is easy for students at Norwegian institutions to obtain recognition of their qualifications in other countries.
The internationalisation of higher education has been a key factor for the development of programmes where the language of instruction is English in Norway. For the school year 2007/2008 more than 200 Masters programmes taught in English are available to students, covering a variety of subject areas. Some of the institutions are also offering English-taught programmes at the Bachelor’s level.
Norway has seven accredited universities, nine accredited specialized university institutions, 22 accredited university colleges, two accredited national colleges of the arts and several private institutions of higher education with either institutional or programme accreditation.