In English In Report 2013:3
status report
2013 Higher education in Sweden Sweden in education Higher
Higher education in Sweden 2013 status report Report 2013:3 www.uk-ambetet.se/rapporter
Higher education in Sweden 2013 status report Report 2013:3
status report
The Swedish Higher Education Authority is a government agency that deals with The questions concerning universities and university colleges and is responsible for statistics SHEA The about higher education. works with the quality assurance of ciency, higher education courses and programmes, monitoring and evaluating effi legal supervision and leadership development in higher education. can read more on the web-site www.uk-ambetet.se. You
2013 Higher education in Sweden Sweden in education Higher Higher education in Sweden 2013 Status report
Published by Universitetskanslersämbetet 2013 Rapportnummer 2013:3
Editor Andrea Amft Graphic design and graphics Åsa Till Photos Eva Dalin PRINT Ineko, Stockholm, June 2013, Printed on environmentally-friendly paper
Swedish Higher Education Authority • Box 7703, SE-103 95 Stockholm Phone +46 8 563 085 00 • Fax +46 8 563 085 50 E-post [email protected] • www.uk-ambetet.se Contents
Contents
Introduction 5
Sweden in an international perspective 7
Facts about higher education in Sweden 15 Higher Education in Sweden 16 The structure of programmes and qualifications 18 Admission to higher education 19 Tuition fees 20 Student finance 20
Trends and developments 23 First and second-cycle courses and programmes 24 Third-cycle courses and programmes 35 International mobility 38 Education and employment 41 Teachers and researchers 45 Finance and research funding 48
Key figures for higher education institutions 53 First and second-cycle programmes and courses 55 First and second-cycle programmes and courses 56 Third-cycle programmes and courses 57 Teaching and research staff 58
Universities and university colleges in Sweden 59
Introduction
The Swedish Higher Education Authority gulatory framework. The report then outlines (Universitetskanslersämbetet) is continuing developments prior to and including the fiscal the tradition previously observed by the Na- year of 2012 for public-sector and independent tional Agency for Higher Education (Högsko- universities and university colleges. The last leverket) and is now publishing the first short section presents key data about students, staff version in English of its annual statistical re- and finance for each university and university port on higher education institutions in Swe- college. Analyses in the statistical report are den. It gives a description of the current si- mainly based on information supplied by Sta- tuation in Sweden’s largest public sector area tistics Sweden and the Swedish Higher Edu- – the higher education sector. cation Authority. < Initially, the report summarises some in- dicators for Swedish higher education in an international perspective and, under the heading Facts about higher education in Swe- den, provides a basic description of the struc- Lars Haikola ture of Swedish higher education and the re- The University Chancellor
INTRODUCTION 5
Sweden in an international perspective
SWEDEN IN AN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE 7 Per cent For many years the importance of an advan- 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 ced level of education for competitiveness Canada and growth has been high on the agenda – Japan in Sweden and internationally. The impact USA New Zealand on educational statistics can be seen clearly South Korea in the increase in the number of students in United Kingdom higher education in both Sweden and seve- Finland ral other comparable countries. Consequently Australia expenditure has also risen and there has been Ireland Norway increasing focus on how to fund educational Switzerland activities. Belgium
Sweden Educational level of the population Iceland Between 1997 and 2010 the proportion of the Spain OECD average populations of the OECD countries aged 25– France
64 with tertiary qualifications had risen on Germany average from 21 to 30 per cent. In Sweden the Greece corresponding proportion rose from 21 to 34 Poland per cent during the same period. Hungary Austria 1997 Among the 25 OECD countries for which Mexico 2010 there are statistics for both 1997 and 2010 Slovakia Canada had the largest proportion of the Czech Republic population aged 25–64 with tertiary quali- Turkey fications in 2010, 51 per cent. This propor- 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 tion was also high in Japan, the USA, New Figure 1. Proportion of population aged 25-64 Zealand and South Korea, with 40 per cent with tertiary qualifications (ISCED 5A, 5B or 6) 1997 and 2010 respectively. Source: Table A1.4 or above. Here Sweden is in the middle, as it EAG 2012. was in 1997. Much of the increase in Canada is due, however, to a rise in the provision of short countries. It was highest in Iceland in 2010, programmes with a more practical or profes- 22.4. This was followed by Denmark, 22.1, sional orientation. Programmes at this level and then Sweden, 21.8. In the countries that constitute only ten per cent of the tertiary edu- had the youngest HE entrants (Spain, Mexi- cation offered in Sweden. co, Ireland and Belgium) the median age was 19.3 or less. Higher median age for HE entrants in The differences between the ages of HE en- Sweden trants in the various countries reflect social dif- In the OECD countries higher education ferences and differences in their educational normally begins straight after leaving what systems, for instance the age at which secon- corresponds to the upper-secondary school in dary education finishes. In Sweden pupils nor- Sweden. The median age in the OECD for mally leave secondary education at the age of HE entrants (including incoming foreign stu- 19, which is partly why HE entrants are older dents) was 20.6 in 2010 and it has been more than in many other countries. Higher educa- or less the same since 2001. tion in Sweden is also characterised by a major There is data about the median age of HE element of lifelong learning and this is reflected entrants in both 2001 and 2010 for 21 OECD in the age of the country’s HE entrants.
8 SWEDEN IN AN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE USD adjusted for purchasing power 0 5 000 10 000 15 000 20 000 25 000 30 000 the average rate of increase in the OECD,
USA which is 24 per cent. Australia was one of the Switzerland countries that devoted most per student in Canada 2000 but since then the rate of increase has Sweden
Norway been lower than in many countries. In Swe- Denmark den expenditure per student has risen by 32 Netherlands per cent between 2000 and 2009. Finland The proportion of the total expenditure by Ireland United Kingdom the education providers devoted to research Australia depends on the way in which research is or- Japan ganised in the different countries. HEIs in Germany Sweden undertake a considerable amount of Belgium France research. In Sweden – as well as in Switzer- Austria land – it is largely expenditure on research OECD average that means that expenditure per student is so Spain high. Other countries which have a relatively Portugal Iceland large proportion of expenditure for research Italy are Finland, Norway and the Netherlands, South Korea 2001 about 40 per cent. 2009 Hungary On average, 65 per cent of this expenditure Czech Republic Mexico in the OECD countries in 2009 went to edu- Poland cation and 31 per cent to research, as well as Slovakia 4 per cent to ancillary services. As most of the 0 5 000 10 000 15 000 20 000 25 000 30 000 information about expenditure in the OECD Figure 2. Expenditure by education providers on is presented in total figures, it is a good idea tertiary education and research per FTE 2000 and to bear this in mind when comparing the re- 2009 in different countries, expressed in USD ad- sources devoted to education by the different justed for purchasing power, current prices. Sour- ce: indicator B1 in EAG 2003 and EAG 2012. countries. The share that goes to research has on the whole risen somewhat during the years Expenditure on tertiary education but in 2000 the list of countries that devoted Comparison of the expenditure by educa- a considerably larger proportion to research tion providers (HEIs and others) in different than the OECD average was the same. countries on tertiary education including re- When expenditure per student on educa- search reveals that for many years Sweden tion alone is compared, the variations bet- has been one of the countries that devotes the ween the countries are reduced considera- highest funding per student. In 2009 the total bly and Sweden and Switzerland are placed expenditure per student was highest in the further down in the list. In Sweden expenditu- USA, followed by Switzerland, Canada and re per student on education alone in 2009 was Sweden. In several other Nordic countries ex- at the same level as in Switzerland and Bel- penditure per student was also high in 2009. gium and slightly above the OECD average. In 2000 the list was topped by the same This gave Sweden a shared 8th place among countries as in 2009, apart from Finland and the 28 countries for which data are available. Australia. In Finland expenditure per stu- In the USA expenditure per student is twi- dent in 2000 was considerably lower than the ce as high as the OECD average. OECD average but since then it has doubled in current prices. This can be compared with
SWEDEN IN AN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE 9 USD adjusted for purchasing power Per cent 0 5 000 10 000 15 000 20 000 25 000 30 000 0,0 0,5 1,0 1,5 2,0 2,5 3,0
USA USA South Korea Canada Canada Chile Finland Netherlands Denmark Sweden Ireland Netherlands Ireland Norway New Zealand Australia
Finland OECD average Estonia Israel Austria Japan Poland Belgium France Belgium Switzerland Austria Mexico Sweden Norway Portugal France Switzerland* Spain Australia United Kingdom Courses and programmes Slovenia Public funding OECD average Ancillary services Iceland Private funding Research Germany Czech Republic Germany Italy Hungary* United Kingdom Slovakia
0 5 000 10 000 15 000 20 000 25 000 30 000 0,0 0,5 1,0 1,5 2,0 2,5 3,0
Figure 3. Education providers’ expenditure per Figure 4. Investment by the OECD countries in student expressed in USD adjusted for purcha- 2009 in tertiary education and research in higher sing power divided between different activities education from public funding and private sour- for the countries with the highest total expendit- ces expressed as proportions of GDP. Source: Ta- ure in 2009 as well as the OECD average. Source: ble B2.3, EAG 2012. Information about private funding Table B1.2 in EAG 2012. Information about Denmark is not available for Switzerland and Hungary. and Japan is not available.
Investments in education as a proportion Korea, Canada and Chile, where 2.5 per cent of GDP of GDP was spent on tertiary education and Another way of measuring how much countri- research in higher education. Except for Ca- es invest in tertiary education and research in nada, however, in these countries it is because higher education is to relate their total expen- of private funding that such a large propor- diture to their gross domestic products (GDP). tion of their GDP is spent on research. It is In 2009 the OECD countries invested 1.6 per mainly in countries outside Europe that pri- of GDP on average on tertiary education and vate funding predominates. research in higher education (excluding stu- The proportion of private funding for ter- dent finance). About 70 per cent of this comes tiary education and research in higher educa- from the public purse (1.1 per cent of GDP) tion varies from less than 5 per cent in Den- and 30 per cent (0.5 per cent of GDP) is pri- mark, Finland and Norway to over 70 per cent vate funding. in Chile, South Korea and the United King- The countries that devoted most in 2009 in dom. Sweden stands out among the Nordic relation to their GDP were the USA, South countries with 9 per cent of its funding co-
10 SWEDEN IN AN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE ming from private sources. This is because Sweden’s educational targets the private, non-profit sector in Sweden ac- counts for a large proportion of the funding Completed tertiary education for research at the HEIs compared to the Sweden’s target is that 40–45 per cent of the other OECD countries. If the magnitude of 30–34 age cohort will have at least two years the proportion of GDP coming from the pu- of tertiary education in 2020. blic purse is taken into account, the Nordic In 2011 47.5 per cent of the Swedish popu- countries in particular stand out, with Fin- lation aged 30–34 already had these qualifi- land, Denmark and Sweden topping the list. cations according to Eurostat’s follow-up, so Finland and Denmark each allocated public the Swedish target is lower than current levels funding corresponding to 1.8 per cent of GDP today. Many other countries, particularly the to higher education and research, while Swe- Nordic and Baltic states have set cautious tar- den allotted 1.6 per cent. Even though private gets. Poland, on the other hand, where the funding in the Nordic countries is relatively educational level among young people has small (0.1–0.2 per cent of GDP) public fun- already been raised significantly, wants to go ding still means that these three countries are even further and its national target is 45 per among the OECD countries that devote most cent. to higher education and research. Mobility Educational targets in Europe 2020 The target for mobility is that at least 20 per Europe 2020 is the name of the European cent of those graduating from higher educa- Union’s overall strategy for employment and tion will have studied for no less than three smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. It months abroad. Exactly how this target is to lays down five overall targets related to em- be monitored has not yet been determined ployment, research, the climate, education and there are no international statistics to en- and poverty that the EU is to have attained able comparison. One indication of attainme- by 2020. Two of these five have a direct bea- nt of the target is that Sweden’s national statis- ring on the higher education sector – one that tics show that among those graduating in the 3 per cent of GDP is to be invested in research academic year of 2011/12 (excluding incoming and development, the other to raise the level students) just under 15 per cent had studied ab- of educational attainment. road for a period. This also includes, however, For education a number of objectives have short language courses abroad, so the figure been declared, one of which is that at least 40 is somewhat overstated. The proportion has per cent of the 30–34 age cohort shall have at been around this level for several years and is least two years of tertiary education. Another therefore some distance from the EU target. objective is to encourage mobility for educa- Sweden is not unique in this respect and in tional purposes. Where higher education is many other EU countries considerably fewer concerned this means that at least 20 per cent than 20 per cent of those graduating have stu- of those graduating should have spent a pe- died abroad. This means that it is possible to riod of study abroad. view the target as a very ambitious one.
Investments in R&D When it comes to investments in research and development work (R&D) the overall target is that 3 per cent of the EU’s GDP is to be alloca- ted to R&D. Sweden has set its own national
SWEDEN IN AN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE 11 Finland France and Slovenia) while the other member Sweden states have set lower targets. Iceland For a long time Sweden has been one of Denmark the countries that has devoted most to R&D Germany but the trend has declined since it peaked in Austria 2001, when Sweden’s investment in R&D was Slovenia 4.1 per cent of GDP. This is in spite of the in- Estonia clusion of companies with fewer than 50 em- France ployees in the statistics since 2005. Finland Belgium overtook Sweden in 2009 and still devotes re- EU 27 latively more than Sweden. Other countries Spain that allocate relatively large proportions are 0,0 0,5 1,0 1,5 2,0 2,5 3,0 3,5 4,0 Per cent Denmark, Iceland, Germany and Austria. In the EU 62 per cent of the R&D was Figure 5. Member states’ investments in R&D ex- undertaken by the commercial sector in 2011, pressed as percentages of GDP. Source: Eurostat. 24 per cent in HEIs and 13 per cent in go- vernmental institutions. In Sweden the com- target at 4 per cent, which means raising the mercial sector accounts for a larger share of level of ambition compared to today. Finland R&D, 69 per cent, and the HEIs accounted has also set itself the same target and the Aus- for 26 per cent. Here the governmental re- trian target is high as well, 3.76 per cent. For search institutions are fairly few in number seven countries the target is 3 per cent (Bel- and only 4 per cent of the country’s research gium, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Spain, and development work takes place in them.
12 SWEDEN IN AN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE
Facts about higher education in Sweden
FACTS ABOUT HIGHER EDUCATION IN SWEDEN 15 HIGHER EDUCATION IN SWEDEN dependent course providers entitled to award qualifications in psychotherapy. Overall responsibility The Riksdag decides which public-sector In Sweden, overall responsibility for higher HEIs are to exist. The Government can de- education and research rests with the Riksdag cide whether a HEI has university status. (Swedish Parliament) and the Government. They decide on the regulations that apply to The regulations that govern higher the higher-education area. They also deter- education institutions mine objectives, guidelines and the allocation In Sweden, public-sector HEIs are agencies in of resources for the area. their own right that report directly to the Go- The Ministry of Education and Research vernment. The operations of HEIs are regula- is responsible for issues relating to schools, ted by the laws and statutes that apply to the HEIs, research, adult education, popular area of higher education. The HEIs are also education and student finance. The public- subject to administrative and labour-market sector HEIs are public agencies accountable legislation and the provisions of the Instru- to the Ministry of Education and Research. ment of Government. Their operations are One exception is Sveriges Lantbruksuniver- also governed by the parameters and funding sitet (Swedish University of Agricultural Sci- decided by the Riksdag and the Government. ences), which is accountable to the Ministry The mission of the HEIs is to offer edu- of Rural Affairs. Other agencies, such as Skol- cation based on an academic or artistic foo- verket (Swedish National Agency for Educa- ting and proven experience. They must also tion), Universitetskanslersämbetet (Swedish undertake development work, including re- Higher Education Authority), Universitets- search and artistic development. In addition, och högskolerådet (Swedish Council for Hig- the HEIs must co-operate with their surroun- her Education) and Vetenskapsrådet (Swedish ding communities, provide information about Research Council), are also accountable to their operations and also act to ensure that the Ministry of Education and Research. benefits are derived from the findings of their research. Higher education institutions Higher education in Sweden is governed All higher education is offered by public-sec- by the Higher Education Act and the Higher tor HEIs or by independent education pro- Education Ordinance. viders granted degree-awarding powers by The Higher Education Act is enacted by the Government. Third-cycle courses and the Riksdag and contains regulations about programmes are offered by universities and the operations of HEIs. These are often supp- university colleges that have been granted en- lemented by the provisions laid down in the titlement to award third-cycle qualifications. Higher Education Ordinance. The Higher There are 14 public-sector universities and Education Act contains basic regulations 20 public-sector university colleges in Swe- about the courses and programmes offered den. In addition there are three independent by HEIs. For instance, it sets out what should HEIs that are entitled to award third-cycle characterise these courses and programmes at qualifications: Chalmers University of Tech- the different levels and stipulates freedom of nology, the Stockholm School of Economics research. It provides a framework for the or- and Jönköping University Foundation. There ganisation and governance of the HEIs, and are also ten independent education providers states that every HEI must have a board of entitled to award first-cycle, and in some cases governors and a vice-chancellor. second-cycle, qualifications as well as four in-
16 FACTS ABOUT HIGHER EDUCATION IN SWEDEN It also has regulations about the duties of full-time equivalents (FTEs) and the number teachers and contains provisions about stu- of credits attained (annual performance equi- dent influence. HEIs must also foster equa- valents). Every year the Government determi- lity of opportunity and broaden recruitment. nes a funding cap for the institutions, which The Higher Education Ordinance is laid lays down the maximum amount that can be down by the Government and is linked to the paid to each HEI. provisions of the Higher Education Act. For In June 2010 the Riksdag decided that re- instance, the Ordinance states that students sources for first and second-cycle program- must be able to influence their courses and mes are also to be allocated on the basis of programmes. It contains regulations on en- the results of the Swedish Higher Education trance qualifications and selection for courses Authority’s quality evaluations. Institutions and programmes, as well as the appointment that receive the highest rating will be given of teachers and doctoral students. It also in- the incentive of additional funding (quality cludes regulations on course and programme funding). Quality based allocation of resour- syllabuses, grades and qualifications. ces will apply to public sector HEIs as well as Annex 2 to the Higher Education Ordi- Chalmers University of Technology and Jön- nance and the annexes to the Ordinances on köping University Foundation and has taken the Swedish University of Agricultural Sci- effect in 2013. ences and the Ordinance on the Swedish Na- The direct funding for research and third- tional Defence College are qualifications or- cycle courses and programmes is based main- dinances that contain the descriptors for all ly on past allocations, but since 2009 10 per qualifications. cent of the funding and new resources are al- Within these parameters, the HEIs are re- located on the basis of two quality indicators. latively free to decide on their own organisa- These are publications and citations and re- tion, allocation of resources and course offe- search funding from external sources. rings. The system is based on the principle of The Swedish University of Agricultur- management by objectives. al Sciences has a special budgeting and re- The Government lays down the directives porting system in which funding for research, for operations at the HEIs in their annual pu- courses and programmes is allocated for a th- blic-service agreements. The Swedish Higher ree-year period together with the educational Education Authority exercises supervision of targets for the same period. the HEIs, which means ensuring their com- pliance with the statutes and regulations that Degree-awarding powers apply to the higher-education area. The Swe- In order to be able to award a specific regu- dish Higher Education Authority also reviews lated qualification, the institution organising the quality of higher education and the effi- a programme – whether it is accountable to cient use of resources and public funding at the state or independent – is required to have the HEIs. degree-awarding powers, i.e. special permis- sion to award this particular qualification. Allocation of resources to higher education Universities are entitled to award first, se- institutions cond and third-cycle general qualifications. The Riksdag decides on funding for the HEIs. The public-sector university colleges have a Resources are allocated to the institutions for general entitlement to award Higher Educa- first and second-cycle courses and program- tion Diplomas, Bachelor’s degrees and 60-cre- mes on the basis of the number of students dit Master’s degrees. Those granted entitle- enrolled in each cycle, expressed in terms of ment to award third-cycle qualifications
FACTS ABOUT HIGHER EDUCATION IN SWEDEN 17 within one or more specified fields according July 2007 as well as to qualifications awar- to the new regulations that apply from 2010 ded after that date. Courses and programmes are also entitled to award 120-credit Master’s that started earlier are subject to transitional degrees in the field specified. The Higher provisions. Education Act stipulates, however, that each HEI has the right to apply to the Swedish Cycles Higher Education Authority for entitlement All courses, programmes and qualifications to award 120-credit Master’s degrees in one are ascribed to three cycles: first, second and or more main fields of study. third. There is progression, i.e. each cycle In other cases the Government or the Swe- is based on the former. The formal require- dish Higher Education Authority decides on ments that distinguish these cycles are speci- entitlement to award general qualifications. fied in the Higher Education Act. In the case of first and second-cycle profes- All first and second-cycle educational of- sional qualifications and qualifications in the ferings consist of courses. These courses can fine, applied and performing arts in every cy- be combined to form programmes. cle, both universities and university colleges have to apply to the Swedish Higher Educa- Higher-education credits tion Authority for degree-awarding powers. An academic year that comprises 40 weeks of In addition, university colleges have to apply full-time study corresponds to 60 HE credits. to the Swedish Higher Education Authority The number of HE credits awarded for each for entitlement to award third-cycle qualifi- course is determined by the amount of study cations. Independent education providers normally required to attain its objectives. have to apply to the Government for degree- The HE credits awarded in higher educa- awarding powers. This is also the case for the tion in Sweden can be compared to Europe- Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences an Credit Transfer and Accumulation System and the National Defence College. The qua- (ECTS) credits, where 60 ECTS credits are lifications that may be awarded by the Swe- attained after one academic year of full-time dish University of Agricultural Sciences are study. listed in an annex to the Ordinance for the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Categories of qualifications and the qualifications that may be awarded There are three categories of qualifications: by the National Defence College in an annex 1. General qualifications to the Ordinance for the Swedish National 2. Qualifications in the fine, applied and per- Defence College. forming arts 3. Professional qualifications.
Professional qualifications are awarded THE STRUCTURE OF PROGRAMMES within the first and second cycles and mainly AND QUALIFICATIONS in the regulated professions on the basis of the The Swedish Higher Education Act and Hig- appropriate requirements. her Education Ordinance have been amended Both general qualifications and qualifica- in accordance with the agreements reached tions in the fine, applied and performing arts within the framework of the Bologna Process, are assigned to the first, second or third cycle. including the European Qualifications Fram- Third-cycle qualifications in the fine, applied ework (QF-EHEA). These amendments apply and performing arts were introduced on 1 Ja- to courses and programmes offered from 1 nuary 2010.
18 FACTS ABOUT HIGHER EDUCATION IN SWEDEN Of the professional qualifications awar- First-cycle qualifications ded in the second cycle, the Postgraduate Diplomas in Midwifery, Specialist Nursing, General qualifications Psychotherapy, Special Needs Teaching and Higher Education Diploma (120 HE credits) Special Educational Needs require a previous Bachelor (180 HE credits) qualification. Other programmes that lead to Qualifications in the fine, applied and the award of a professional qualification in the performing arts second cycle are undivided, i.e. are not split Higher Education Diploma (120 HE credits) between the cycles. The Swedish system dif- Bachelor of Fine Arts (180 HE credits) fers from many others in this respect. In addition to the programmes that lead Professional qualifications to the award of qualifications, higher educa- There are 32 different first-cycle professional qualifi- tion in Sweden offers a wide range of freestan- cations, for example Bachelor of Science in Nursing (180 HE credits), Bachelor of Science in Engineering ding courses, of which many are offered in the (180 HE credits) and Higher Education Diploma in form of distance learning. Students may se- Dental Hygiene (120 HE credits) lect their own combinations of these courses. If these combinations meet the requirements Second-cycle qualifications laid down in the qualitative targets, a general qualification may be awarded. General qualifications Master (60 credits) Master (120 credits)
ADMISSION TO HIGHER EDUCATION Qualifications in the fine, applied and performing arts Sweden has a more uniform system of ad- mission to higher education than many other Master of Fine Arts (60 credits) countries. National admission regulations are Master of Fine Arts (120 credits) laid down in the Higher Education Act, the Professional qualifications Higher Education Ordinance and the regula- There are 22 different second-cycle professional tions issued by the Swedish Higher Education degrees, for example Master of Architecture (300 HE Authority. The detailed national regulations credits), Postgraduate Diploma in Midwifery (90 HE credits) and Master of Science in Medicine (330 HE apply mainly to the admission of HE entrants credits) to first-cycle courses and programmes. There are also regulations on admission to second Third-cycle qualifications and third-cycle courses and programmes, but these are less comprehensive. General qualifications Specific prior knowledge is required for ad- Licentiate (120 HE credits) mission to higher education. Those who have Doctor of Philosophy (240 HE credits) the required knowledge qualify for entry. En- try requirements can be either general or spe- Qualifications in the fine, applied and performing arts cific. The general entry requirements apply to all courses and programmes in higher edu- Licentiate in Fine Arts (120 HE credits) cation; specific (additional) entry require- Doctor in Fine Arts (240 HE credit) ments are also demanded for many courses and programmes. All first-cycle courses and Table 1. Structure of Swedish higher education programmes, apart from those that lead to qualifications. the award of a qualification in the fine, app-
FACTS ABOUT HIGHER EDUCATION IN SWEDEN 19 lied and performing arts, use more or less a provision in the Higher Education Act that the same selection criteria. These are based means that higher education is free for Swe- mainly on school-leaving grades or results dish citizens and for citizens of the EU/EEA from the Swedish Scholastic Aptitude Test. countries and Switzerland. Citizens of other The Higher Education Ordinance stipula- countries, “third country students”, have to tes the general entry requirements that apply pay an application fee and tuition fees for first for all courses and programmes, as well as and second-cycle higher education courses listing any selection criteria that may be in- and programmes starting from the autumn voked. It also contains regulations on the eva- semester of 2011. The HEIs are required to luation of final school grades. charge tuition fees that cover their costs in The Government has decided that the full for these students. Swedish Council for Higher Education is to issue further regulations regarding admissi- on, for example concerning applicants with foreign grades. The vast majority of admis- STUDENT FINANCE sions are pooled. The Swedish Council for It is possible for students to obtain financial Higher Education is responsible for pooled support from the state if they meet the stipu- admissions on behalf of the HEIs, but the in- lated requirements. Student finance consists dividual HEIs decide on the admission of stu- of a combination of study grants and study lo- dents. An appeal may be made to the Higher ans. In 2013 the grant portion of student finan- Education Appeals Board against a HEI’s ad- ce for an academic year of 40 weeks amounts mission decision regarding eligibility but not to SEK 28,280 and the loan ceiling to SEK regarding selection. 61,960. The maximum total available govern- ment-sponsored student finance for an indi- vidual student pursuing fulltime studies thus amounts to SEK 90,240 per annum. Student TUITION FEES finance can be paid for a maximum of 12 se- For a long time Sweden was one of the few mesters or 6 academic years. countries in Europe in which higher educa- Repayment of the loan element is based on tion was completely free of charge for both an annuity system and in normal cases the to- Swedish students and those from other tal debt should have been repaid in 25 years countries. In June 2010 the Riksdag enacted or before the borrower reaches the age of 60.
20 FACTS ABOUT HIGHER EDUCATION IN SWEDEN
Trends and developments
TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS 23 Totals FIRST AND SECOND-CYCLE 140 000
COURSES AND PROGRAMMES Applications 120 000
Applications and admissions 100 000 The number of applicants for the autumn semester of 2012 with no prior experience of 80 000 Admissions higher education totalled 126,000. This is the 60 000 highest figure ever recorded and an increase of 8 per cent compared to the previous year. 40 000 Seen from a longer perspective, the number of new applicants has remained at a high level 20 000 for the last four years. 0 Over 27 per cent of all 19-year-olds in the 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 population applied for places in higher educa- Figure 6. Number of students who have not pre- tion for the autumn semester of 2012. viously participated in higher education in Swe- The gender ratio for applicants with no den, 2002–2012. prior experience of higher education for the autumn semester of 2012 was 58 per cent wo- have the right qualifications, some of those men and 42 per cent men. admitted turn down their places in some se- The number of Swedish students with no lections and some students beginning their prior experience of higher education who studies have not applied through the admis- were admitted for the autumn semester of sions system. 2012 totalled 59,800. This is a slight increase of 1 per cent compared to the autumn semes- Fewer international applications after the ter of 2011. introduction of tuition fees The largest age group among those admit- From the autumn of 2011 and onwards app- ted with no prior experience of higher educa- licants from countries outside the EU/EEA tion was composed of 19-year-olds, who con- and Switzerland who are not participating stituted 32 per cent of the total number for the in exchange programmes have to pay both autumn semester of 2012. This is 2 per cent an application fee when they apply and then fewer than for the previous autumn semester. tuition fees before they may start their stu- The 19-year-old age group was also the one dies. The regular admissions round in 2010 in which the largest proportion of applicants received 14,000 applications from individuals were admitted – 56 per cent of all 19-year-olds who did not have complete civic registration who applied were admitted for the autumn numbers, i.e. who were international appli- semester of 2012. cants. For the autumn semester of 2011 the The total number of applicants is always number of applicants of this kind received in greater than the total number of admissions. the regular admissions round declined consi- The difference cannot, however, be interpre- derably (by 64 per cent) to 5,000, but for the ted as a direct measure of how much greater autumn semester of 2012 there was a rise to demand for higher education is than the supp- 6,500, which is still fewer than before the in- ly. On the one hand there are major differen- troduction of fees. ces in supply and demand between different Since the autumn semester of 2008 there programmes and, on the other, application have been two admission rounds – in addition and admission is a long and complex process to the regular admission round – intended in which populations vary. Not all applicants for international students. One round compri-
24 TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS Totals ses international courses and first-cycle pro- 120 000 Swedish grammes, the other international 120-credit Incoming Master’s programmes. The number of appli- 100 000 Totals cants in both rounds rose substantially bet- 80 000 ween 2008 and 2010, but after the introduc- tion of fees for the autumn of 2011 this number 60 000 has declined dramatically. Compared to the autumn semester of 2010, the number of app- 40 000 licants to international courses and program- mes declined by 86 per cent for the autumn 20 000 semester of 2011, while the numbers apply- 0 ing for international 120-credit Master’s pro- 2001/02 2003/04 2005/06 2007/08 2009/10 2011/12 grammes dropped by 81 per cent. Figure 7. Number of HE entrants, i.e. students The number of applications for internatio- who have not previously participated in higher nal courses and programmes for the autumn education in Sweden, 2001/02–2011/12. semester of 2012 declined even further by 3 per cent, while the number of applications for The term HE entrants is used here to refer international 120-credit Master’s program- to students who begin their studies in higher mes rose by 25 per cent. Nevertheless, both education in Sweden for the first time and in- these rounds still attracted fewer applicants cludes both Swedish and incoming students. than before the autumn of 2010. The decline in the total number of HE en- Not all the applicants in the international trants in 2011/12 is largely due to the major admission rounds have to pay fees, however. reduction of the number of incoming students Some 30 per cent of the applicants to inter- after the introduction of tuition fees from the national courses and programmes for the au- autumn of 2011 for students coming from tumn semester of 2012 were required to pay countries outside the EU/EEA and Switzer- fees, which was lower than the figure for the land and who are not participating in exchan- previous autumn semester, when 48 per cent ge programmes. were liable to pay fees. The corresponding During the first decade of this century and figures for applicants to 120-credit Master’s up until the academic year of 2010/11 there programmes were 40 per cent for the autumn was a major rise in the number of incoming semester of 2012 compared to 47 per cent for HE entrants, on average by 13 per cent each the autumn of 2011. It is obvious that fees have year. After the introduction of fees in the au- led to a marked reduction in the number of tumn of 2011 the number of incoming students international applications. declined by 30 per cent, from 29,500 to 20,800 during the academic year of 2011/12. Despite HE entrants this decline, incoming students still represent During the academic year of 2011/12 92,300 a considerable proportion of all HE entrants students began their studies at HEIs in Swe- – more than one entrant in five in Sweden den. This was a decline of 13 per cent from was an incoming student during the academic the total of almost 106,000 new students in the year of 2011/12. previous academic year. This is the largest de- The number of Swedish HE entrants also cline recorded during the last 20 years. How- declined between the academic years of ever, from a longer perspective the number of 2010/11 and 2011/12, from 76,300 to 71,500, HE entrants remains high. which corresponds to a drop of 6 per cent. This decline is partly due to the ending of the
TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS 25 Per cent Median age, years 50 22,5
45 age 24 age 21 40 age 19 22,0 35
30
25 21,5
20
15 21,0 10
5
0 20,5 1980 1983 1986 1989 1992 2001/02 2003/04 2005/06 2007/08 2009/10 2011/12
Figure 8. Proportion of cohorts born 1980–1992 Figure 9. Median age of HE entrants (excluding who have begun studies in higher education (in incoming students) academic years 2001/02– Sweden and abroad) by the ages of 19, 21 and 24. 2011/12. temporary expansion of higher education by red with the figure of 11–12 per cent for those almost 10,000 places during the period 2010– born in the 1980s. This is also reflected in 2011 - one of the measures taken to cope with the marked drop in the age of HE entrants in the economic downturn. recent years. During the decade the median The statistics for the autumn semester of age, as measured at the end of December in 2012 indicate that the decline in the total each academic year, of Swedish HE entrants number of HE entrants has levelled out and has declined significantly. Median age was that in principle the total will be the same as highest for the academic year of 2002/03 (22.3) for the autumn semester of 2011. The number and lowest for 2011/12 (21.1). of Swedish HE entrants has gone down by 2 There are major differences between wo- per cent while there has been a rise of 6 per men and men when it comes to the propor- cent for incoming HE entrants for the autumn tions that have begun studies in higher educa- semester of 2012. tion. Among the cohort born in 1987 52 per cent of the women had begun studies in hig- Major differences in the age of HE entrants her education by the age of 24 compared to Among those who reached the age of 24 in 36 per cent of the men. The same gender dif- 2011, i.e. those born in 1987, 44 per cent had be- ference is revealed by analysis of the cohorts gun studies in higher education either in Swe- reaching the age of 21 and 19 during 2011 (tho- den or abroad. The proportion of those who se born in 1990 and in 1992), even though the had begun to study in higher education by the difference between the genders seems to grow age of 24 has declined somewhat, by 1 per cent larger the older the cohorts become. compared to the cohorts born 1980–82. For the cohorts that had attained the age HE entrants with foreign backgrounds of 19 up to and including 2011, on the other Foreign background is used here to refer to hand, the proportion that had begun higher those who were either born outside Sweden or education had increased compared to pre- were born in Sweden but both of whose parents vious cohorts. Just over 15 per cent of the co- were born abroad. International students who hort born in 1990–92 had entered higher edu- travel to Sweden in order to study, i.e. inco- cation by the age of 19, which can be compa- ming students, are not included in this group.
26 TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS The total number of HE entrants with fo- cation. Indeed this is a necessity for entrants reign backgrounds in Swedish HEIs in the to 60-credit and 120-credit Master’s program- academic year of 2011/12 was 13,100. Most mes for which possession of a Bachelor’s de- of them, 59 per cent, were women, a similar gree is an entry requirement. proportion as for those with Swedish back- Since the introduction of 120-credit grounds, where 57 per cent were women in Master’s programmes in 2007, the numbers the same year. Even though students with fo- beginning these programmes increased annu- reign backgrounds constitute a growing pro- ally until the academic year of 2010/11, when portion of HE entrants, a smaller proportion there were 14,600 entrants. Incoming students from this group go into higher education after have been in the majority on these program- leaving school than among those with Swe- mes ever since 2007 and they accounted for 61 dish backgrounds. per cent of those starting these programmes in the academic year of 2010/11. The signifi- Parents’ education cant decline in the number of incoming stu- In the academic year of 2011/12 36 per cent dents for the academic year of 2011/12 refer- of HE entrants under 35 had parents with ad- red to above also had a major impact on the vanced educational qualifications, i.e. at least numbers beginning 120-credit Master’s pro- one parent who had completed three years grammes. In the academic year of 2011/12 the of tertiary education. Among the population number of beginners on these programmes aged 19–34 the corresponding figure was 24 fell to 10,100, a reduction of 31 per cent com- per cent. This difference can be viewed as pared to the previous year. This is due enti- an overall measure of bias in recruitment to rely to the decline in the number of incoming higher education. students (62 per cent fewer), which means that In addition to the influence of parental from 2011/12 incoming students account for a educational qualifications on the decision considerably smaller proportion of those be- to begin studies in higher education or not, ginning 120-credit Master’s programmes (34 they also influence the kinds of programmes per cent) than before. chosen, as the proportions of students whose The trend in the number of students begin- parents have advanced educational qualifi- ning the new 60-credit Master’s programmes cations varies among them. The proportion introduced in the academic year 2007/08 de- of HE entrants whose parents have advan- scribes the same pattern as for those starting ced educational qualifications is largest in 120-credit Master’s programmes and has also programmes that demand high grades for been affected by the decline in the number admission. of incoming students after the introduction of tuition fees. Fewer entrants on 120 credit Master’s Even though the numbers of incoming stu- programmes dents have declined in both 60-credit and First and second-cycle studies can consist of 120-credit Master’s programmes, they help either freestanding courses or degree pro- to even the gender balance among entrants to grammes. About half of all the HE entrants, these programmes, as the proportion of men is i.e. with the inclusion of incoming students, considerably larger among incoming students took freestanding courses only during their than among their Swedish counterparts. first year of study and half were pursuing a Bachelor’s programmes are by far the most degree programme. numerous among those leading to the award Entrants to degree programmes may well, of a general qualification. The proportion of however, have prior experience of higher edu- incoming students on these programmes is,
TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS 27 Totals however, small. The number of entrants to 400 000 Bachelor’s programmes in the academic year 350 000 of 2011/12 amounted to 26,000, which was 3 per Total cent lower than in the previous academic year. 300 000
250 000 The students 200 000 HE entrants form only a small proportion of Women all the students in higher education. In addi- 150 000 tion to the HE entrants, the student popula- Men 100 000 tion also comprises students continuing their studies from previous years and those retur- 50 000 ning after several years of absence. Altogether 0 357,000 students participated at one time or 1977 1982 1987 1992 1997 2002 2007 2012 another in first and second-cycle courses and Figure 10. Number of students registered in first programmes during the autumn semester of and second-cycle courses and programmes each 2012 and 26,000 of them were incoming stu- autumn semester 1977–2012. dents, 14 per cent fewer than in the autumn of 2011. 20,000 annually to reach 260,000 in the late Altogether the incoming students accoun- 1990s, when the rate of expansion began to ted for 7 per cent of the entire student popula- slow down. In the early years of this century tion, which can be compared with 10 per cent another rapid expansion of higher education during the autumn semester of 2010, the last began and the number of students rose to over in which there were no tuition fees. 300,000. In the autumn semester of 2011 the total There are more women among the stu- number of students dropped by 6,600 and this dents than men. The proportion of women decline continued in the autumn of 2012 by has grown gradually since the 1977 Higher another 5,600, i.e. just under 2 per cent. Abo- Education Reform, which incorporated pro- ve all there was a reduction of the number of grammes in which women predominated, men among incoming students, in the autumn for instance in education and health scienc- of 2012 by 3,200. The number of women also es, into the higher education sector. Since the dropped but somewhat less, among Swedish beginning of this century the gender ratio has students by 1,600 and incoming students by remained constant in principle with 40 per 1,000. On the other hand the number of Swe- cent men and 60 per cent women. dish men rose by 200. Viewed from a longer time perspective, Decline in the number of distance students the number of students in higher education In recent years the distinction between on- in Sweden is still high. In the 1950s there were campus teaching and distance education has fewer than 50,000 students in higher educa- become increasingly vague as the technology tion and at the end of the 1960s just over and the methodology initially used only for 100,000. The 1977 Higher Education Reform distance education is now also used on cam- led to the incorporation of programmes with pus. Distance programmes are defined for a further 46,000 students into the higher edu- statistical purposes as programmes in which cation sector and at the beginning of the 1980s teachers and students are mainly separated the student population totalled 150,000. The in time and/or place. This means that both 1990s saw the expansion of higher education totally web-based programmes in which there and the number of students rose by 15,000– are no meetings and programmes with occa-
28 TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS Totals 400 000 Only distance Distance + on-campus Only on-campus Students with functional impairments
350 000 The Swedish Discrimination Act lays down that HEIs must actively ensure equal rights for stu- 300 000 dents and applicants irrespective of functio- nal impairments, for instance. The Government 250 000 has given Stockholm University the task of al- 200 000 locating funding for special educational sup- port for students with functional impairments 150 000 to the other HEIs.
100 000 Stockholm University’s report states that during 2012 there were about 9,400 students 50 000 with functional impairments in higher educa- tion. These are students who have been in con- 0 2000 2003 2006 2009 2012 tact with the HEIs’ coordinators for students with functional impairments or have come to Figure 11. Numbers of students registered au- their attention in some other way. This means tumn semesters 1999–2012 per form of study. that the HEIs are now reporting almost 4,000 more known cases of students with functional sional meetings, for instance those offered in impairments than they did five years ago. As local study centres, are included. the HEIs increase general accessibility a rising number of students with functional impairments The number of students taking only on- will not be included in these statistics. About 65 campus courses rose during the early years per cent of this group were women and 35 per of this century to its highest total of just over cent men, which means that the proportion of 288,000 in the autumn of 2003. Since then women is somewhat larger than in the student this number has declined and in the autumn population as a whole. of 2012 amounted to just under 274,000 stu- About 8,600 of the 9,400 students with dents. functional impairments received special edu- The number of students combining dis- cational support, i.e. individual assistance to tance education with on-campus teaching has compensate for functional impairment or the more than tripled since the beginning of the specific measures these students are offered century. The highest figure so far was reached in groups. During 2012 the Swedish National Agency for in the autumn of 2010 when just over 21,000 Higher Education (Högskoleverket) compiled a students combined both forms of study. special presentation of the results concerning The number of students opting for distance the HEIs’ measures for students with functional education alone has also risen since the be- impairments from its supervisory visits during ginning of the century from just over 18,000 the period 2002–2012. The Agency noted that in 2000 to just under 68,000 in the autumn the number of students with dyslexia was rising of 2011. every year. The same applied to students with Just as in on-campus teaching, a larger pro- neuropsychiatric impairments. portion of women are students than men. This applies in particular for those who are solely freestanding courses and only a few pursue distance students but is also true of those who degree programmes. combine distance education with on-campus study. Qualifications awarded Almost half of the students who are solely During the academic year of 2011/12 69,800 distance students have a previous higher edu- higher education qualifications were awar- cation qualification. They are mainly taking ded and the numbers graduating totalled al-
TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS 29 years is that there was an appreciable rise in National minorities the number of teaching qualifications awar- In its budget bill for 2013 the Government has ded in the academic year of 2010/11. During allocated specific funding to guarantee the this academic year many qualifications were provision of teachers for the national minority awarded to teachers who had not previous- languages. A number of the national minority ly applied for the award of their certificates, languages, Finnish, Sami, Meänkeli (Tornedal mainly as a result of the announced require- Finnish), Romany Chib and Yiddish, are cur- ment that qualified teacher status would be rently subjects in which higher education is of- fered but they have few students. demanded for those employed as teachers (a The Government views this as a disturbing reform that was later postponed until Decem- development as teachers are needed in the ber 2013). The number of these applications education system who can teach these langu- then declined substantially in the academic ages as well as in them, if the national minority year of 2011/12. As teaching qualifications languages are to be able to survive and deve- constitute the largest number of professional lop and so that children and young people can qualifications awarded, this change has had be offered teaching in their minority languages. a major impact on the total number of quali- To guarantee a supply of teachers for the na- fications awarded during the year. tional minority languages the Government has therefore decided that certain HEIs should Most graduates were women aged 25-29 be given specific assignments – national re- sponsibility – for establishing and developing The majority of the students who graduated programmes to train teachers for secondary during the academic year of 2011/12 were wo- education in the national minority languages. men, 63 per cent, and 37 per cent were men. Currently no HEI is entitled to award teaching There was a slight decline in the proportion of qualifications for upper-secondary education women compared to the previous five acade- in Sami, Meänkeli, Romay Chib or Yiddish. In mic years, when between 65 and 66 per cent of April 2013 Stockholm University was awarded those graduating were women. One explana- entitlement to issue teaching qualifications for tion for this is the major drop in the number teachers in secondary education in Finnish as of teaching qualifications awarded – of which a first language. 80 per cent are to women – in the most recent The Government has also decided to link spe- academic year. cific funds for work with the different national responsibilities. The largest group of graduates during the academic year of 2011/12, about 40 per cent, comprised those aged 25–29. Just under a most 59,000. The numbers of qualifications quarter were 24 or less while about one-third awarded and graduates therefore remains were 30 or older. The median age among gra- high compared to previous academic years. duates was 27 for both women and men. The There has, admittedly, been a slight decline median age for men has been the same for in relation to the peak year of 2010/11 – the the last ten years while the median for wo- number of qualifications dropped by 1,700 men has varied between 27 and 28 during the and the number of graduates by 1,900 – but same period. then the delayed reports normally submitted in the following year have not been included More general qualifications for the most recent academic year. – fewer professional qualifications One factor that has been significant for the Since 2007 there have been three categories of development in the number of qualifications qualifications: professional qualifications, ge- awarded in the two most recent academic neral qualifications and qualifications in the
30 TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS Totals 45 000 Of those born in 1965 12 per cent were General qualifications 40 000 awarded HE qualifications after at least th- ree years of study by the age of 35, i.e. in the 35 000 academic year of 1999/2000. For those born 30 000 in 1977, who were 35 in 2012, the correspon- Professional qualifications 25 000 ding figure was 28 per cent. An even larger 20 000 number of individuals have been awarded HE 15 000 qualifications by the age of 40. In the cohort
10 000 born in 1972, who were 40 in 2012, 24 per cent had been awarded HE qualifications after at 5 000 Fine, applied & performing arts least three years of study. This was an addi- 0 2002/03 2005/06 2008/09 2011/12 tional three percentage points compared to Figure 12. Numbers of general qualifications, the same cohort at the age of 35. professional qualifications and qualifications in Most of those with HE qualifications after the fine, applied and performing arts awarded in at least three years of study had graduated the academic years 2002/03-2011/12. by the age of 30. From a longer perspective, fine, applied and performing arts. The num- the proportion awarded qualifications by this ber of general qualifications awarded has ri- age has risen substantially – from 9 per cent sen steadily since the introduction of the new for those born in 1965 to 24 per cent for those structure of programmes and qualifications born in 1982, who were 30 in 2012. A short- in 2007 and the number awarded in the aca- term view reveals, however, that the propor- demic year of 2009/10 exceeded the number tion of 30-year-olds awarded HE qualifica- of professional qualifications for the first time. tions has declined to some extent. The pro- This trend was carried further in the acade- portion of those awarded a HE qualifications mic year of 2011/12, when the number of ge- after at least three years of study by the age neral qualifications awarded continued to rise of 30 was half a percentage point higher for while there was a decline in the number of those born in 1981 than for those born in 1982, professional qualifications. During the aca- and was even larger for those born in 1980. demic year of 2011/12 40,600 general qualifi- Among those awarded a HE qualifications cations were awarded and just under 28,500 after at least three years of study by the age professional qualifications, in other words the of 35 the proportion of women is larger than difference was almost 12,000 qualifications. of men and this has been the case since the The number of qualifications in the fine, annual cohort born in 1954. For cohorts born applied and performing arts, a new category before that date a higher proportion of men of qualification since 2007, rose to some extent had been awarded HE qualifications. and in the academic year of 2011/12 almost The proportion of women awarded HE 700 were awarded. qualifications has also risen more noticeably than for men. Among women the proportion 28 per cent of 35-year-olds have a HE awarded a HE qualifications after at least th- qualification awarded after at least three ree years of study by the age of 35 rose from 13 years of study. per cent for women born in 1965 to 35 per cent The expansion of higher education during for those born in 1977. For men the correspon- the last few decades means that the propor- ding increase was from 11 to 21 per cent. A tion of an annual cohort awarded a higher larger proportion of women have also been education qualification has risen noticeably awarded HE qualifications between the age for those born from the mid-1960s onwards. of 35 and 40 – in the cohort born in 1972 4 per
TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS 31 Per cent Per cent 50 50 Graduation by 40 Graduation by 40 45 45 Graduation by 35 Graduation by 35 40 Graduation by 30 40 Graduation by 30 Graduation by 25 Graduation by 25 35 35
30 30
25 25
20 20
15 15
10 10
5 5
0 0 1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985
Figure 13. Proportion (percentage) of annual co- Figure 14. Proportion (percentage) of annual co- horts of women born 1948–1987 graduating from horts of men born 1948–1987 graduating from at at least 3 years of higher education by the ages least 3 years of higher education by the ages of of 25, 30, 35 or 40. 25, 30, 35 or 40. cent of the women and 1 per cent of the men So far there is information on the gradua- had been awarded HE qualifications between tion rate for entrants to programmes leading these ages. to professional qualifications. The most re- cent statistics available are for entrants who Student performance rate have been awarded qualifications in these Students’ results in higher education are of- programmes up until the academic year of ten discussed in terms of student performance 2009/10. As the analysis of qualifications rate. One way of assessing student performan- awarded covers the year in which a program- ce is in terms of the graduation rate, which me officially ended and an additional three measures how many in each cohort of HE years, the years in which entrants began these entrants finally graduate. Another form of as- programmes vary, from the academic year of sessment is offered by performance indicators, 2001/02 to 2005/06. which measure how many of the credits stu- The graduation rate is highest for pro- dents are registered for are obtained. grammes leading to a qualification for one of the regulated professions. It was highest for Highest graduation rate in programmes for the programme in medicine, in which 90 per the regulated professions cent of the entrants were awarded qualifica- The graduation rate is the proportion of en- tions, followed by programmes in midwifery, trants in a specific year that finally qualify. As dental hygiene as well as nursing and den- not all students are aiming for the award of tistry, which all had graduation rates of over a qualification, the graduation rate can most 80 per cent. The lowest graduation rate was suitably be applied to students on degree pro- in Bachelor’s programmes in engineering at grammes. To establish the graduation rate in- 33 per cent formation is needed on when students started Irrespective of the professional qualifica- in a programme and then the number of qua- tion a programme leads to, the graduation lifications awarded has to be monitored at the rate is higher for women than for men. This end of the programme’s nominal length and applies to both programmes where women for a further three years. constitute the majority of students and pro-
32 TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS Per cent grammes in which men are in a majority. The 100 greatest difference was in programmes in so- cial work, pharmacy and education, where 95 the graduation rate for women was more than 90 20 percentage points higher than for men. 85 Decline in performance indicators – Performance rate women especially for freestanding distance 80 courses 75 Performance indicators show to what extent Performance rate men students obtain the credits for which they are 70 registered. As this measurement does not re- 65 quire the award of a qualification, it is not 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 only suitable for assessing students on degree Figure 15. Performance indicators for FTEs divi- programmes but also for those taking frees- ded between women and men registered in hig- tanding courses. From 2013 onwards new sta- her education in the academic years of 2004/05– tistics linked to individuals are being used to 2009/10. establish performance indicators. These new statistics are based on the number of credits There are major differences in the perfor- obtained in the semester of registration and mance indicators for different forms of study. in the following three semesters. The most re- The performance indicators for FTEs in the cent year that can be accounted for is therefo- academic year of 2009/10 were highest in pro- re the academic year of 2009/10 and the cre- grammes in the fine, applied and performing dits awarded by the autumn semester of 2011. arts and programmes leading to the award of The average performance indicator for the a professional qualification, at 93 per cent and academic year of 2009/10 was 78 per cent, i.e. 89 per cent. Next come general programmes in that year full-time students obtained 78 per with 82 per cent. The average performance cent of the credits for which they had registe- indicator for all forms of programme was 86 red within four terms. Comparison over time per cent. reveals that the average performance indica- The performance indicators for freestan- tor has dropped during the last five academic ding courses are considerably lower than for years. In the academic year of 2004/05 the degree programmes. For FTEs in freestan- performance indicator for FTEs was 81 per ding courses during the academic year of cent and since then it has declined somewhat 2009/10 the performance indicator was 61 each academic year. per cent, in other words 24 percentage points The performance indicator for women is lower than for degree programmes. Further higher than for men – for FTEs in the aca- differences can be found in the performance demic year of 2009/10 the figure for women indicators for on-campus and distance frees- was 80 per cent and for men 74 per cent. The- tanding courses. The performance indicator re has, however, been a larger decline in the for on-campus freestanding courses was 68 performance indicators for women than for per cent, which can be compared with the men over time. For women this figure decli- figure of 48 per cent for freestanding courses ned from 84 to 80 per cent and for men from offered in distance education. 76 to 74 per cent between the academic years In all forms of study the performance in- of 2004/05 and 2009/10. dicators are higher for women than for men. The largest difference can be found in gene-
TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS 33 Per cent 100 Evaluation of higher education Qualifications in the fine, applied & performing arts Since 2011 first and second-cycle program- 90 mes have been evaluated on the basis of how Professional qualifications well students attain the qualitative targets laid 80 General qualifications down in the Qualifications Ordinance. These evaluations cover all programmes that lead to 70 the award of Bachelor’s degrees, 60-credit and On-campus freestanding courses 120-credit Master’s degrees and professional 60 qualifications. Another requirement is that at
least five independent projects (degree pro- 50 jects) must have been graded in the three pre- Distance freestanding courses
vious years. The material on which evaluation 40 is based comprises the independent projects, 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 self-evaluations, student interviews and also, Figure 16. Performance indicators for FTEs in up until the autumn of 2012, questionnaires to programmes in the fine, applied and performing alumni. arts, programmes leading to the award of a pro- The evaluations are carried out with the help fessional qualification, general programmes and of external assessors. The panels of assessors freestanding on-campus and distance courses for the academic years of 2004/05-2009/10. consist of subject experts, labour market repre- sentatives and students. The difference was smallest in programmes in The evaluations have been divided up into six the fine, applied and performing arts, where rounds. Decisions have been announced for it was 2 per cent. the first three rounds, which have included, for instance, the social sciences and languages. Comparison over time reveals that the gre- The fourth round is half way through the pro- atest decline in performance indicators has cess. This round covers the natural sciences been for freestanding courses offered in dis- and technological sciences tance education. Between the academic years /engineering programmes. During the spring of 2004/05 and 2009/10 the performance in- of 2013 evaluations of programmes in health dicators for FTEs on distance freestanding sciences and medicine have started. The last courses dropped by 8 percentage points. The round of this evaluation cycle will begin in the performance indicators for other forms of stu- autumn. It includes programmes in the fine, dy declined by between 1 and 2 percentage applied and performing arts, programmes in points during the same period. social work and in education. It is mainly where women are concerned The evaluation cycle will finish in 2014. So far 743 qualifications have been evaluated. Of them that the performance indicator for freestan- 163 have been judged to be of inadequate qua- ding distance courses has declined. This per- lity, 415 considered to attain high quality and 129 formance indicator for women has declined very high quality. each year since the academic year of 2004/05 The Swedish Higher Education Authority has – from 61 to 51 per cent. For men the perfor- given the programmes assessed as being of mance indicator is lower than for women but inadequate quality on year in which to submit has not declined to the same extent – from 48 an account of the measures adopted. to 44 per cent between the academic years of 2004/05 and 2009/10. ral programmes and programmes leading to The marked decline in the performance the award of a professional qualification, in indicators for freestanding distance cour- which the performance indicators for women ses, in particular for women, largely explains were 7 and 6 per cent higher than for men for the overall drop in performance indicators FTEs during the academic year of 2009/10. during the last five academic years – and why
34 TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS Totals 350 000 This increase is probably the result of a rise in the funding cap for 2010/11 in view of the se- 300 000 rious economic downturn and a record-brea- 250 000 king number of 19-20-year-olds.
200 000
150 000 THIRD-CYCLE COURSES 100 000 AND PROGRAMMES 50 000 The number of third-cycle students, docto- ral students, totalled almost 19,000 in the au- 0 1988 1991 1994 1997 2000 2003 2006 2009 2012 /89 /92 /95 tumn semester of 2012, somewhat more than in the previous year. There were just under Figure 17. Number of FTEs 1989–2012. 3,700 new entrants to third-cycle program- mes, also an increase compared to 2011. On this has been larger for women than for men. the other hand there was a drop in the num- The number of FTEs on freestanding dis- ber of PhDs and licentiate degrees awarded tance courses has moreover risen noticeably compared to the previous year. In 2012 just in recent years, from 18,700 in the academic over 2,500 PhDs were awarded and just under year of 2004/05 to 35, 600 in the academic 800 licentiate degrees. year of 2010/11, which means that their per- formance indicators have an impact on the New entrants average performance indicator for all courses The total number of new entrants in 2012 was and programmes. The reasons for this decline just under 3,720, a slight increase compared are unclear. to 2011 when there were 3,560 new entrants. From a longer perspective the number of stu- Volume of higher education dents entering third-cycle studies has risen In 2012 the number of FTEs was 311,000, which considerably during the period 1990–2012, by is a reduction of 7,400 compared to 2011. There about 40 per cent. Since the calendar year of was also a decline in the number of FTEs bet- 1990, when there were almost twice as many ween 2010 and 2011. This reduction amounted to 2,500 FTEs. Much of the decline in the last Number of new entrants and degrees Number of doctoral students 5 000 25 000 Doctoral students New entrants two years can probably be explained by smal- Licentiate degrees PhDs awarded 4 500 ler numbers of incoming students and reduced 4 000 20 000 funding for the HEIs in 2012. Viewed from a longer perspective, the 3 500 number of FTEs has, however, risen substan- 3 000 15 000 tially. In the early 1990s there were 150,000 2 500 FTEs and in 2003 this number had doubled 2 000 10 000 to 300,000. This significant increase was due 1 500 to the major expansion of higher education 1 000 5 000 during the period. Between 2005 and 2007 500 the number of FTEs declined as a result of 0 0 1990 1994 1997 2000 2003 2006 2009 2012, fall in student demand for places. The figure prel. then began to rise again and in 2010 reached Figure 18. New entrants, doctoral students and the highest number so far with 320,900 FTEs. degrees awarded in third-cycle programmes, 1990–2012.
TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS 35 Totals 4 000 programmes when they were 30 or more and Total there were a larger proportion of women be- 3 500 ginning doctoral studies when they were over 3 000 40. In 1999 the proportion of new entrants to doctoral studies under the age of 29 was 60 2 500 per cent, compared to 52 per cent in 2012. 2 000 Men The age distribution varies however from
Women research domain to domain. In technology 1 500 and the natural sciences the majority of new 1 000 entrants were 29 or less and this applied to both men and women. It was much more 500 common for new entrants in the social sci- 0 ences and humanities as well as in medicine 1990 1994 1997 2000 2003 2006 2009 2012, prel. and the health sciences to be 40 or more than Figure 19. New entrants in third-cycle program- in the other research domains. mes 1990–2012. Highest proportion of international new men beginning third-cycle studies as women, entrants ever the proportion of women has risen conside- There has been a larger rise in the number rably. The gender balance has been more or of international new entrants to third-cycle less even since 2000. studies than for Swedish entrants in recent The number of students in undergradua- years and in 2012 they numbered 1,470, which te programmes, today first and second-cycle can be compared to the total of 3,720. The programmes, in the academic year of 2005/06 proportion of international new entrants was who were likely to be ready to begin third-cy- therefore 39 per cent, the largest ever and two cle studies in the academic year of 2010/11, percentage points higher than in 2011. An in- about 35 per cent had parents with advanced ternational third-cycle student is one who has educational qualifications. The correspon- come to Sweden in order to pursue third-cycle ding proportion among HE entrants to third- studies. The first year in which statistics about cycle programmes was 56 per cent in 2010/11, international new entrants to third-cycle stu- and therefore parental education seems to be dies were recorded was 1997, when they ac- one factor that skews recruitment as students counted for 16 per cent of the total. Since then progress from second to third-cycle studies. both the numbers and the proportion they In 2010/11, moreover, 11 per cent of the new represent have increased continually. entrants to third-cycle programmes had pa- rents who themselves had postgraduate qua- Doctoral students lifications, which can be compared to the cor- The number of doctoral students has risen by responding figure among the population at 200 since the previous year and in the autumn large which was just under 2 per cent. semester of 2012 they totalled almost 18,930. After declining for a few years, the number of Women entering third-cycle programmes doctoral students began to rise from 2008 and are older in 2012 approached the record total from 2003. Among the new entrants to third-cycle stu- Analysis of the different research domains dies in 2012 58 per cent of the men were 29 or shows that one-third of the doctoral students less, compared to 46 per cent of the women. in 2012 were taking programmes in medicine The majority of women began third-cycle and the health sciences and it is mainly in the-
36 TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS Number Per cent 7 000 70
Medicine/health sciences 6 000 60 New entrants Doktoral students’ sources of funding 5 000 50 Natural sciences
4 000 40
Technology 30 3 000 Social sciences
20 2 000 Humanities 10 1 000 Agricultural science 0 0 Doctoral Doctoral Scholar- Posts in External Medical External Miscel- 1999 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012, student- grants ships higher research posts employ- laneous prel. ships education posts ment
Figure 20. Number of doctoral students per field Figure 21. Sources of funding for new entrants of science and technology 1999 – 2012. to third-cycle studies and third-cycle students, calendar year 2012 (FTEs). se subjects that numbers have risen since 1999. compared to 8 per cent. This is because the One-fifth of the doctoral students are follo- Higher Education Ordinance stipulates that wing programmes in technology, one-fifth in a doctoral grant must be converted to a doc- the natural sciences and one-fifth in the social toral studentship no later than two years be- sciences. More or less the same numbers have fore the planned date for the submission of a been taking programmes in these subjects and doctoral thesis. agricultural science from 1999 onwards, while Appointments to doctoral studentships the numbers taking doctoral programmes in have become increasingly frequent in recent the humanities have declined. years for both new entrants and for third-cy- cle students as a group. In 2009 these posts Doctoral studentships most frequent had been given to 45 per cent of the new en- There are different sources of funding for trants, compared to 50 per cent in 2012. The third-cycle students and these can vary de- proportion of doctoral students appointed to pending on the stage they have reached in these posts was 54 per cent in 2009, and in their studies. New entrants may seek funding 2012 this figure was 61 per cent. from other sources than those available to students who are a few years into their pro- Qualifications awarded grammes. The total number of third-cycle qualifications In the autumn of 2012 the most frequent awarded declined in 2012 to 3,320 from a to- sources of funding for both new entrants and tal of 3,500 in the previous year. There was a all third-cycle students were doctoral student- drop in the number of licentiate degrees and ships. Fewer new entrants had been appointed PhDs. The number of PhDs awarded in 2012 to doctoral studentships than among the to- was just under 2,540, a decline from the pre- tal population of third-cycle students, 50 per vious year’s total of 2,620. In 2012 the number cent compared to 61 per cent. On the other of licentiate degrees awarded was 790 compa- hand considerably more new entrants were red to 890 in the previous year. receiving doctoral grants than the group of The number of PhDs awarded varies third-cycle students as a whole, 19 per cent among the different research domains and de-
TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS 37 pends for instance on how large the domains These figures include all the incoming stu- are. During 2012 most PhDs were awarded in dents registered in Sweden and not only new medicine and the health sciences, just under entrants to higher education. one-third of the 2,540. Almost half of the 790 licentiate degrees were awarded in techno- Decline in the numbers of incoming HE logy and another quarter in the natural sci- entrants ences in 2012. The number of incoming students who were Equal numbers of women and men were HE entrants in first and second-cycle pro- awarded PhDs in 2012 and the gender balance grammes during the academic year of 2011/12 has been even in recent years, but seen from a totalled 20,800, which is a decline of 8,600 20-year perspective the proportion of women compared to the previous year. The propor- has risen from 27 to 50 per cent. The propor- tion of all HE entrants at Swedish HEIs co- tion of women awarded licentiate degrees was ming from abroad was 23 per cent. This can smaller, 41 per cent. One explanation is that be compared with the previous year, when half of all these degrees were awarded in tech- this figure was 28 per cent. Despite the de- nology, where the majority of students are men. cline, this is a large proportion compared to the academic year of 2002/03, when students from abroad accounted for 15 per cent all HE entrants. Just over 70 per cent of the new in- INTERNATIONAL MOBILITY coming students during the academic year of During the academic year of 2011/12 the ri- 2011/12 were exchange students. sing trend in the number of students arriving During the previous academic year of in Sweden to study in first and second-cycle 2010/11 there were more or less equal num- programmes reversed. After having increased bers of free-movers and exchange students. threefold during the preceding decade, the The decline in the number of free-movers is number declined by almost 30 per cent com- mainly due to the introduction of tuition fees pared to the previous year. During the aca- on 1 July 2011. This has mainly affected the demic year just over 38,100 foreign students numbers of free-movers from such countries: were studying at HEIs in Sweden, which is from 8,200 in the academic year of 2010/11 8,700 fewer than the year before. to 1,700 in the following year, a decline of 79 per cent. In the autumn of 2012 the number Totals 50 000 of incoming HE entrants rose by 7 per cent compared with the previous autumn but it is still considerably lower than it was before the 40 000 introduction of fees. Incoming The number of incoming free-movers from 30 000 countries in the EU/EEA and Switzerland who were HE entrants rose from 1,400 in the Outgoing autumn of 2010 to just under 2,300 in the au- 20 000 tumn of 2012, in total an increase of 64 per cent. In other words there has been a shift 10 000 in the countries that free-movers come from. It is important to note that not all free-
0 movers from third countries have to pay tui- 2002/03 2005/06 2008/09 2011/12 tion fees. Fees are waived for students from Figure 22. All incoming and outgoing students in third countries who are considered to have the academic years 2002/03-2011/12.
38 TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS Student Area of origin category Total new incoming Change (%)
Aut.-10 Aut.-11 Aut.-12 Aut.-10–Aut.-11 Aut.-11–Aut.-12
All Free-mover 12 450 4 900 5 800 -61 17
Exchange 9 600 9 800 9 700 2 -1
Total 22 100 14 700 15 400 -33 5
Free-mover 1 400 1 800 2 300 27 31 EU/EEA Exchange 7 000 7 100 7 100 2 0 & Switzerland Total 8 300 8 900 9 400 7 6
Other than EU/EEA Free-mover 7 600 1 600 1 700 -79 7
& Switzerland (Third Exchange 2 700 2 700 2 500 0 -5
country students) Total 10 200 4 300 4 200 -58 -1
No information * Free-mover 3 500 1 500 1 700 -56 13
Total 3 500 1 500 1 700 -56 13
Table 2. Number of new incoming students to Sweden – who have not previously studied in Sweden – by area of origin and student category autumn 2011 and autumn 2012 as well as the percentage change between the two years. * There is no information about which country some free-mover students come from. strong links to Sweden, for instance those that the total number of fee-paying students with permanent residence permits or resi- in the autumn of 2012 was 2,395. dence permits in Sweden granted for other reasons than to study. In the autumn of 2012 Most international HE entrants at Lund 1,706 new free-movers from third countries University began their studies in higher education and During the academic year of 2011/12 Lund 81 per cent of them, 1,375, were paying fees. University had the largest number of inco- In the previous autumn 72 per cent or 1,155 of ming HE entrants in Sweden, just over 2,500 the fee-paying HE entrants were free-movers students of the total number of 20,800. Uppsa- from third countries. la University and the Royal Institute of Tech- The autumn semester of 2012 was the first nology came next with 1,900 students each. in which there were also fee-paying students Together these three institutions account for who were not HE entrants, i.e. who were con- 30 per cent of these HE entrants and they tinuing studies begun in the previous year, the have also had the largest numbers of inco- academic year of 2011/12, which was the first ming HE entrants for many years. year in which fees had been charged. In addi- As most exchange students usually only tion to 1,375 fee-paying HE entrants in the au- complete part of their programmes in their tumn of 2012 there were also 1,020 fee-paying exchange countries, the vast majority of the students continuing their studies. This means incoming exchange students were taking courses rather than complete degree pro-
TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS 39 grammes. It was more common for free-mo- students awarded qualifications in Sweden vers to opt for degree programmes, 69 per came from China followed by Germany. cent, instead of courses, 31 per cent. The in- crease in the proportion of students taking Students leaving Sweden to study degree programmes coincides with the rise During the academic year of 2011/12 there in the number of free-movers, which has in- were 27,700 Swedish students abroad who creased each year during the last decade with either funded their studies through student the exception of the academic year of 2011/12. finance from CSN or were on exchange pro- The explanation for this decline is the intro- grammes, which was just over 1,000 more duction of tuition fees, which led to a major than in the previous year. This is the fourth reduction in the number of free-movers. year in a row that the number of students lea- The disciplinary domains most often cho- ving Sweden has rising. These students can sen by new exchange students during the aca- be grouped in three categories. The largest demic year of 2011/12 were social science, law, group consisted of free-movers (66 per cent), commerce and administration, followed by followed by exchange students (24 per cent) technology and manufacturing. and finally those attending language courses (11 per cent). Compared to the previous year, Almost every other incoming student the number of free-movers has risen by 4 per comes from Europe cent and exchange students by 12 per cent, There were almost 38,100 incoming stu- while the number taking language courses dents in Sweden during the academic year of has declined by 9 per cent. Students taking 2011/12 and the majority, 78 per cent, came language courses were previously included in either from Europe (18,300) or Asia (11,300). the group of free-movers but they can now be The total number of free-movers studying accounted for separately. The reason is that in Sweden in the academic year of 2011/12 was these language courses are no longer classified 23,100 and 7,100 of them came from Europe as higher education as they are not considered and 9,100 from Asia. Of the 15,300 exchange to be at tertiary level. students in Sweden 11,300 came from Europe During the last decade the number of free- and 2,200 from Asia. movers has risen by 18 per cent and the num-
Most qualifications awarded in technology State scholarship fund established and manufacturing In connection with the introduction of applica- A total of 7,300 incoming students were awar- tion fees and tuition fees for international first ded qualifications in the academic year of and second-cycle students from countries out- 2011/12. The majority of them, 80 per cent, side the EU/EEA and Switzerland who were not were awarded second-cycle qualifications. participating in exchange programmes a state Technology and manufacturing were the scholarship fund was established. The HEIs are also increasingly finding their own scholarship most popular fields of study and most qualifi- funding from companies or from private dona- cations, 930, were awarded by the Royal Insti- tions. In the autumn of 2012 just under 40 per tute of Technology. A relatively small number cent of the newly registered fee-paying stu- of those awarded qualifications were exchan- dents were receiving Swedish scholarships. ge students, 590, the reason being that their About one-third of those offered scholarships exchange studies often form part of a comple- refused them. The reason was often that the te programme in their own countries, where scholarship was not considered adequate and/ they probably qualify. Most of the exchange or that it was felt that it would be too expensive to live in Sweden.
40 TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS Per cent ber of exchange students by 58 per cent. On 20 the other hand the number of students taking language courses has declined by 53 per cent. Primary 15 The UK and USA most popular During the academic year of 2011/12 the Uni- ted Kingdom and the USA were the most po- 10 pular countries to study in, each attracting Secondary 5,100 students, 19 per cent of all those who left Sweden. These two countries were followed 5 Post-secondary by Denmark, Australia, France, Spain and Poland. Altogether these seven countries ac- 0 counted for two-thirds of all the students lea- 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 ving Sweden to study, about 17,700 of a total Figure 23. Unemployment (per cent) 2007–2012 of 27,700. The most frequent fields of study according to educational qualifications, age for free-movers leaving Sweden were, as ear- group 15–74. lier, social science, business, law & adminis- tration. About 30 per cent were studying in tion this figure was 7.3 per cent and for those these fields in the academic year of 2011/12. with tertiary education it was 4.8 per cent. They were followed by health and social care For many years unemployment has been lo- with 21 per cent. The humanities and fine, wer for graduates irrespective of the econo- applied and performing arts were the third mic situation. most popular field. In the population as a whole, there are more qualified women than men. Overall fe- wer women are gainfully employed than men, but, according to Statistics Sweden’s unem- EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT ployment survey, a larger proportion of the In Sweden the demand for graduates has been women with higher education are employed rising for a long time and statistics also show than men. In 2012 4.5 of the women with terti- that higher education increases the possibi- ary qualifications were unemployed, compare lities of becoming established in the labour to 5.2 per cent of the men. This difference is market. There are, however, major differen- largely due to gender differences in various ces between the ways in which students in dif- educational and vocational fields. Women are ferent disciplines enter the labour market after overrepresented in professional programmes graduation. that lead to employment in education and so- cial and health care, where there has been no The graduate labour market shortage of jobs in recent years. Graduate have a better chance of becoming established in the labour market. The labour Rise in the numbers of graduates in the market surveys carried out by Statistics Swe- labour force den reveal that a larger proportion of tho- The total number of graduates from higher se with tertiary education are gainfully em- education entering the labour market in Swe- ployed than those who are less well qualified. den is considerably larger than the number of The overall unemployment rate among 15–74 graduates who retire each year. There was a year olds in 2012 was 7.7 per cent. For those rise in the number of individuals with tertiary who had merely completed secondary educa- education in the labour force of 440,000 bet-
TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS 41 ’000s 2 500 Graduates from other countries in the Secondary education Swedish labour market
2 000 Sweden enjoys a net migration of individuals
Post-secondary education with tertiary education, in other words there are more graduates moving to Sweden than 1 500 leaving it. Only in connection with the crisis in the 1990s has the opposite been true. 1 000 To make it easier for these groups to gain a footing in the labour market it is possible 500 for them to have their qualifications evalu-
Primary education (or corresponding) ated and recognised by an appropriate aut- 0 hority. The process of issuing assessments of 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 what Swedish qualification corresponds to a Figure 24. Total number gainfully employed qualification from abroad shows that many, 2000–2010 and estimated labour market demand 2011–2030 divided according to educational qua- but not all, of the graduate immigrants apply lifications. to have their qualifications recognised. A to- tal of 20,500 immigrants with higher educa- ween 2000 and 2010 according to Statistics tion qualifications came to Sweden in 2010 Sweden. Given the current volume of higher from other countries (according to their own education this development will continue, alt- information about their educational attain- hough more slowly than hitherto. The num- ments) and in the same year just over 5,000 ber of students in higher education is twice applications for recognition were made to the as large as it was twenty years ago. This ma- Swedish National Agency for Higher Educa- jor expansion of higher education means that tion. From 1 January 2013 the responsibility several categories of graduates will increase for evaluating qualifications from abroad has in number during the next decades, even if been taken over by the Swedish Council for there is no further increase in the number of Higher Education. In addition there are qua- places offered. lifications from abroad that are evaluated by In today’s labour market qualifications other authorities, for instance Socialstyrelsen from higher education are required for a gre- (the National Board of Health and Welfare) ater number of jobs than before. For a long when they concern the health services. Alto- time there has been a trend for employers gether the number of recognitions, registra- to demand higher qualifications in various tions and certificates of qualified status issued fields. This does not necessarily mean that a for individuals from abroad corresponds to position actually demands a longer period of about one tenth of the total number of quali- study – it is also one outcome of the continual fications awarded by higher education insti- rise in the number of graduates in the labour tutions in Sweden each year. force. Individuals who have retired in the last The reason why the number of highly qua- 10–20 years have been replaced in many vo- lified immigrants applying for recognition of cational fields by others with more advanced their qualifications is not larger may be that formal qualifications than those required by many of them have already found work in the preceding generation. It is more than li- Sweden or begun supplementary studies. kely that the demand for highly qualified em- ployees will continue to grow. Establishment on the labour market The number of places offered by HEIs in Sweden must meet student demand and the
42 TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS needs of the labour market. During the last and health care. Nine out of ten graduates 5–10 years a broader and more overall view who qualified as physicians, dentists or had of labour market links has evolved in higher Master’s degrees in engineering had esta- education. blished themselves within 1.5 years. About 13 The increasing focus placed on the links per cent of all those graduating belonged to between higher education and the labour categories with 90 per cent establishment or market and its relevance is largely the result more. A large proportion of graduates, three of the increased expectations from the la- out of four, belonged to categories in which bour market and the influence it exerts. Be- the establishment interval lay between 70 and hind this development there is also the discu- 89 per cent. ssion of employability that has been going on The majority of the graduates who gained within the framework of the Bologna Process. a footing in the labour market in 2009 about Work has recently started in the context of whose occupations there is information had European cooperation on the identification jobs that were closely linked to the field in of a “benchmark” that can be used by the which they qualified. Those with general qua- Member States to compare the employability lifications can on the whole, find employment of their students with each other. The target in a number of different occupations. These being discussed is an establishment rate of 80 groups are, however, the ones who usually per cent. According to the establishment in- find it more difficult to establish themselves dicators developed by the Swedish National than those with professional qualifications. Agency for Higher Education, in 2009 78 per cent of graduates in Sweden had gained a foo- Gender differences ting in the labour market 1–2 years after the The proportions of women and men with award of their qualifications. One year ear- qualifications from higher education who es- lier this figure was 80 per cent. The decline tablish themselves in the labour market differ. between the two years reflects general deve- In 2009 the difference was four per cent in fa- lopments in the labour market. vour of the men. This difference can largely The definition of establishment developed be explained by the varying representation of by the Swedish National Agency for Higher women and men in different study program- Education – and which the Swedish Higher mes so that they seek employment in different Education Authority will continue to use – sectors. In some years there have been large assesses graduates as established if they were differences between the rates of establishment gainfully employed in November, earn more for different disciplines and these are also re- than a specific amount and have not been stu- flected in gender differences. dents, moved abroad or had periods of unem- As the fields in which students qualify play ployment during the year or been involved such an important role for establishment, the in labour market policy measures. Establish- gender differences become smaller if the choi- ment is measured 12–18 months after gradua- ce of programmes by women and men are ta- tion and graduates are grouped in different ken into account. If the women and men who categories on the basis of which sector of the entered the labour market in 2009 had been labour market their qualifications relate to. evenly distributed over the different discipli- The proportion establishing themselves nary domains, the gender difference would varied from discipline to discipline. The lar- have been just over 3 per cent less. There gest proportion of graduates who gained a would, however, still have been a difference footing in the labour market had qualifica- of 1.5 per cent in favour of the men. tions in areas such as technology, medicine
TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS 43 Future balances in the labour market
Establishment of third-cycle students Extended school education The more advanced the educational quali- Biomedical science Vocational teaching fications acquired, the greater the chance of Special needs/Special educational needs education establishment in the labour market. Engineering, first-cycle qualification Social sciences, public administration In 2007 the proportion of those with PhDs Pharmacy Early years education who gained a footing in the labour market Primary education, grades 3-9/ Upper-secondary education was 87 per cent, but this figure was lower for Dental science those awarded licentiate degrees and those Nursing Agriculture and horticulture with research degrees from abroad – 81 per Primary education, grades 1-6 cent and 67 per cent respectively. The largest Physiotherapy Theology proportion of PhDs to establish themselves Medicine Architecture in the labour market were those with degrees Occupational therapy in medical subjects and also in the technolo- Programming/Systems science Library and Information Science gical sciences. The smallest proportion were Veterinary science those graduating in the humanities and reli- Natural Sciences Psychology gious studies. Engineering, second-cycle qualification Procent Law Pharmacology Future supply and demand for graduates Humanities The demand for graduates differs in different Economics Fine, applied and performing arts vocational fields. Forecasting future labour Social work market needs is a difficult undertaking as they Journalism 250 Personnel and human sciences are affected by so many different circumstan- 0 50 100 150 200 % ces that cannot easily be predicted. What can, Figure 25. Future balances in the labour market. however, be foreseen is the recruitment that will be required as a result of retirement. It At the same time more students than will is possible to analyse the age structure in dif- be needed are being prepared for a number ferent vocational fields to estimate the supply of fields. This applies, for instance, to artists, of graduates from different programmes that social workers and journalists. Here it can be will be required in the future. Estimates of seen that the number of interested students this kind are made by the Forecast Institute at exceeds society’s needs. Statistics Sweden, the most recent one in 2012. It is important to bear in mind that the- Based on the Forecast Institute’s estimates se assumptions only apply provided that no the Swedish National Agency for Higher Edu- changes occur in the numbers of places of- cation has pointed to the risk of future shorta- fered and applications received. ges among, for instance, teachers, biomedical scientists, engineers with first-cycle qualifica- tions, nurses and dentists, if there is no in- crease in the number of HE entrants to these TEACHERS AND RESEARCHERS programmes. In a number of these program- About one-quarter of all those employed by the mes, mainly in the health sector, the shortage Swedish state work in higher education and in is due to a lack of places on offer. Other pro- 2012 this number totalled just over 73,400 indi- grammes have places for more students but viduals, or 58,900 FTEs. Discounting the num- there are not enough interested applicants. ber of third-cycle students with posts as doc- The shortage of many different kinds of qua- toral students, the number of FTEs is 49,000, lified teachers is likely to persist, unless more which is 600 more than in the previous year. students choose these programmes.
44 TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS Total FTEs During the expansion of the higher educa- 60 000 tion sector in the 1990s there was a major in- All employees crease in the number of employees, with the 50 000 exception of 2004–2008, when totals declined 40 000 somewhat before rising again in 2009. The in- All employees excluding crease in the numbers employed in recent years doctoral studentships 30 000 coincides with the rise in funding for the HEIs. Research and teaching staff Employees are divided into those who have 20 000 research and teaching duties and those who Employees without research do not. From a longer perspective it is the and teaching duties 10 000 numbers of those with research and teaching duties that have risen while the numbers of 0 those without these responsibilities have re- 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2009 2012 mained more or less the same. In 1985 em- Figure 26. Number of employees in HEIs in ployees with research and teaching duties Sweden 1985–2012 (FTEs). constituted 40 per cent of the total number employed (FTEs, excluding doctoral stu- dents), in 2012 this proportion was 57 per cent. qualified categories, professors and senior lec- turers, while lecturers and other research and Research and teaching staff teaching staff without PhDs were two catego- In 2012 the number of employees with re- ries that declined. search or teaching duties totalled almost The group of research and teaching staff 27,900 FTEs, or 57 per cent of the total num- mainly includes professors, senior lecturers, ber employed. This means that the number postdoctoral research fellows, lecturers and of FTEs has remained virtually unchanged visiting and part-time fixed-term lecturers, since 2011. But developments were different which were the categories to which regula- for different categories of employees. There tions previously applied. The provisions of was a rise in the numbers of two of the most the Higher Education Act (1992:1434) apply-
Proportion Appointment categories Total FTEs Change 2012
2011 2012
Professors 4,780 4,910 +130 18 %
Senior lecturers 7,460 7,76 0 +300 28 %
Qualifying posts 2,990 2,920 -70 10 %
Lecturers 5,630 5,360 -270 19 %
Other teaching and research staff
With PhDs 2,900 2,970 +70 11 %
Without PhDs* 4,200 3,950 -250 14 %
Totals 27,960 27,880 -80 100 %
* Includes those for whom no details are known. Table 3. Total FTEs 2011 & 2012 in the different appointment categories as proportion of total research and teaching staff in 2012.
TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS 45 Totals ing to teaching staff were however amended 8 000 Senior lectures as a result of the ”Autonomy Bill” (Govt. Bill 7 000 2009/10:149). Since 1 January 2011 the cate- gories of professor and senior lecturer are still 6 000 subject to regulations, and in addition fixed- Lectures 5 000 Professors term ”qualifying posts” were introduced in 4 000 the Higher Education Ordinance (1993:100) Other research and teaching staff without PhDs on 15 August 2012. 3 000 Apart from these appointments, the group Other research and teaching staff 2 000 with PhDs of other research and teaching staff includes Qualifying posts a large number of employees. 1 000 The largest appointment category in 2012 0 consisted of senior lecturers, who totalled 28 2001 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 per cent of the teaching and research staff, whi- Figure 27. Number of research and teaching FTEs le lecturers constituted 19 per cent, professors at HEIs 2001–2011 in appointment categories. 18 per cent and qualifying posts 10 per cent. The category of other teaching and research this total has increased by just over 1,800 staff with PhDs comprised 11 per cent of the to- FTEs, which has more than doubled the tal and those without PhDs 14 per cent. number of women. The corresponding rise in the number of male senior lecturers was More senior lecturers and professors 220 FTEs, a rise of 5 per cent. On the whole the numbers employed as re- The number of professors amounted to search and teaching staff were the same in 2012 4,190 FTEs in 2012, which is 130 more than as in 2011. This total dropped by 80 FTEs. in the previous year. Since 2001 the number The number of lecturers has declined con- of women professors has risen by just over stantly since 2003. In 2012 the total number of 710 FTEs, while the number of male profes- lecturers was 5,360 FTEs, 270 fewer than in sors has risen by almost 930 FTEs. As there the previous year, and 1,440 fewer compared were relatively few women professors in 2001 to 2003. The drop in the number of lecturers the percentage rise in their number has been is somewhat more apparent among men, a considerable, 154 per cent, while the number decline of 25 per cent, than women, 18 per of male professors has risen by 33 per cent. cent. The decline in the number of lecturers in recent years can partly be explained by the Other research and teaching staff desire of the HEIs to appoint mainly teachers After a significant rise, in particular between with PhDs as one way of enhancing links with 2008 and 2011, there has been a drop in the research and the academic qualifications of number of those employed in the group of teaching staff in first and second-cycle courses other research and teaching staff. In 2012 this and programmes. There have also been pos- totalled 6,930 FTEs, a reduction of 180 FTEs sibilities for lecturers to be promoted to senior since 2011. About 2,790 of those in this cate- lectureships if they are considered to fulfill the gory had PhDs, while 3,950 had less advanced requirements for these posts. qualifications. There has been a marked rise in the num- There was a decline in the number without ber of senior lecturers in recent years, which PhDs of 250 FTEs between 2011 and 2012, amounted to 7,760 FTEs in 2012, 300 more while those with PhDs increased by 70. Howe- than in 2011. The number of women senior ver, this decline in the number without PhDs lecturers has risen in particular. Since 2001 had been preceded by a rise between 2009
46 TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS Totals 1800 third-cycle programmes and the remaining Post-doctoral posts 1600 35 per cent to other tasks. Teaching in first and second-cycle courses 1400 and programmes is mainly undertaken by lec- 1200 turers and senior lecturers. The lecturers state Post-doctoral research fellows 1000 that they devote 60 per cent of their working
800 hours to this teaching, the senior lecturers 42 per cent. At the same time these two catego- 600 ries devote fewest hours to R&D. Those who Associate senior lecturers 400 spend most of their time on R&D are resear-
200 chers and post-doctoral research fellows (who are included in the group of other research 0 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 and teaching staff), 70 per cent of their wor- king hours. The professors devote 17 per cent Figure 28. Numbers of post-doctoral research fel- lows, associate senior lecturers and other post- of their time to teaching on first and second- doctoral positions 2001–2012 (FTEs). cycle courses and programmes, 10 per cent to teaching on third-cycle programmes and 42 and 2011 of almost 1,000 FTEs. The number per cent to R&D. of qualifying posts, which amounted to 2,920 FTEs in 2011 has risen increasingly during re- Types of appointment cent years. Between 2011 and 2012, however, In 2012 about two-thirds of the research and this total declined by 70 FTEs. teaching staff were employed until further no- Analysis of the various forms of appoint- tice and one third had fixed-term appoint- ment included in this category reveals that the ments (FTEs). decline occurred in the number of post-doc- The proportion with fixed-term appoint- toral research fellows, 190 FTEs fewer. The ments in the higher education sector is large numbers employed in other post-doctoral po- compared to other sectors, which can partly sitions rose, however, by 120 FTEs, while the be explained by the fact that the regulations number of associate senior lecturers remained stipulate that certain posts must be fixed- the same. term appointments. Virtually all the qualify-
Allocation of working hours Since 2005 Statistics Sweden has conducted Professors a questionnaire survey every other year cove- ring a selected population of employees (with Senior Lecturers research and teaching duties) at the HEIs. The employees, including those appointed to Lecturers doctoral studentships, are asked, for instance, Other teaching and research staff how they divided their total number of wor- – with PhDs king hours between different tasks. Other teaching and research staff The findings of the latest survey, which co- – without PhDs vers 2011, show that 41 per cent of the total number of working hours is allocated to re- Qualifying posts search and development (R&D), 22 per cent 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Fixed-term Per cent to teaching in first and second-cycle courses Until further notice and programmes, 3 per cent to teaching in Figure 29. Types of appointment for different cate- gories of research and teaching staff, FTEs 2012.
TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS 47 Per cent 60 eleven years. At the same time the proportion Lecturers of professors who are women has risen by just Other research 50 and teaching staff under one percentage point per year, from 14 without PhDs to 24 per cent. This was also the case between Qualifying posts 40 Other research 2011 and 2012, when the number of women and teaching staff with PhDs professors rose by 88 FTEs and by 45 FTEs 30 for men, which means that the proportion of Senior lecturers Professors women rose from 23 to 24 per cent. 20 To encourage a rise in the proportion of women among professors the Government 10 has set targets for the recruitment of women professors at 34 HEIs for the period 2012– 0 2015. These targets are based on the calcula- 2001 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 ted recruitment base (senior lecturers and Figure 30. Proportion of women in different cate- post-doctoral research fellows) in different gories of research and teaching staff 2001–2012 fields of research. There have been targets of (FTEs). this kind since 1997, although none were set ing posts were fixed-term and this is also the for 2009–2011. type of appointment that should normally be offered for them. In addition fixed-term appointments were FINANCE AND RESEARCH FUNDING also frequent in the group of other research For several years higher education in Sweden and teaching staff, in particular for those wit- has been in an expansive phase. This deve- hout PhDs (62 per cent). lopment also continued in 2012 and the HEIs’ Overall, a larger proportion of the women revenues rose to SEK 61.2, which in current had fixed-term appointments in 2012 compa- prices is SEK 1.8 billion more than in the pre- red to men, 36 per cent for women, 31 per cent ceding year. for men. In most of the appointment catego- The increase in revenues is, however, une- ries it was also more common for women to venly distributed and in the last two years re- have fixed-term appointments. The exception venues for first and second-cycle courses and was the category of other research and teach- programmes have declined while research ing staff without PhDs, where slightly more funding has continued to grow. This means men had fixed-term appointments. that research has become increasingly predo- The proportion of those with fixed-term minant in the higher education sector. appointments has been the same since 2008 The Government’s most recent research bill even though funding allocations have risen covered the period 2009–2012 and has led to during this period. a considerable increase in the HEIs’ revenu- es for research and third-cycle courses and Women professors programmes each year, particularly early in There is a development towards a more even the period. The HEIs’ revenues for first and gender balance among research and teaching second-cycle courses and programmes also staff. In 2001 37 per cent were women, a pro- rose at the beginning of this period, but have portion that has risen to 43 per cent in 2012 since then declined. (FTEs). Since 2001 the number of women pro- The reforms that have been implemented fessors has risen from 460 to 1,170 FTEs, in in first and second-cycle courses and pro- other words a rise of just over 150 per cent in grammes have mainly been financed through
48 TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS SEK billions SEK billions 40 40
35 35 Revenues for research and third-cycle courses and programmes 30 30
25 25 Revenues for first and second-cycle courses and programmes 20 20
15 15
10 10
5 5
0 0 First and second-cycle Research and third-cycle 1997 2000 2003 2006 2009 2012 courses and programmes courses and programmes Direct government funding Private funding in Sweden Figure 31. HEIs’ revenues for first and second- Government agencies Sources outside Sweden excluding EU cycle courses and programmes and for research Other public funding and EU funding Financial revenues and third-cycle courses and programmes 1997– 2012, SEK billions in 2012 prices. Figure 32. Funding for first and second-cycle courses and programmes and for research and the reallocation of existing funds. By and lar- third cycle studies 2012, SEK billions. ge this means that the balance between the volume of the two different levels has been specified in the HEIs’ public service agree- altered. Since 2008 the proportion of the ope- ments and are funded by grants allocated di- rations of the HEIs accounted for by first and rectly to the HEIs by the Swedish Riksdag. second-cycle courses and programmes, mea- Less than half the funding for research and sured in terms of revenue, has declined by just third-cycle courses and programmes (47 per under three percentage points, from just over cent) takes the form of direct government al- 45 per cent to just under 43 per cent. Ten years locations and the state channels a conside- ago this figure was 47 per cent. rable proportion of the funding (26 per cent) The total expenditure of the HEIs on through research councils and other govern- their operations in 2012 amounted to SEK ment agencies. Other significant sources of 60.7 billion and this constituted 1.71 per cent funding for research are private foundations of Sweden’s gross domestic product (GDP), and non-profit organisations. a somewhat higher proportion than in 2011. Expenditure on student finance (SEK 11.3 bil- Eighty per cent government funding lion) and the central agencies in higher educa- Altogether more than 60 per cent of the fun- tion (SEK 0.6 billion) should be added to this ding for the HEIs comes from direct govern- figure. Altogether this means that the total ment allocations. In 2012 direct government expenditure in the higher education sector in funding amounted to SEK 38.5 billion, in- 2012 was SEK 72.6 billion, which corresponds cluding the grants that the government has to just under 2 per cent of the GDP. decided are to be allocated by the Swedish Legal, Financial and Administrative Services First and second cycles funded differently Agency. Compared to 2011 this funding has from research and third cycle declined by SEK 0.5 billion in fixed prices, Funding for the two different levels takes dif- or by 1 per cent. ferent forms. Most of the first and second-cy- In addition to direct government grants, cle courses and programmes (87 per cent) are SEK 10.5 billion of the funding came from
TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS 49 Proportion of expenditure Expenditure (columns, %) (white line, SEK billions) ciation has instead declined during the same 100 100 period. Other operating costs account for an increasing share while the proportion of ex- 80 80 penditure on clinical training and research has declined to some extent. 60 60 Of the total expenditure in 2012, SEK 26 billion was devoted to first and second-cycle 40 40 courses and programmes and just under SEK 35 billion to research and third-cycle courses 20 20 and programmes. The expenditure at both of these levels corresponds on the whole to deve-
0 0 lopments in revenues in 2012 – expenditure on 2004 2008 2012 2004 2008 2012 2004 2008 2012 First and second-cycle Research and third-cycle Total first and second-cycle courses and program- courses and programmes courses and programmes
Staffing Depreciation White line is mes declined by SEK 0.2 billion in fixed pri- the total sum in Premises Clinical research and training SEK billions ces while expenditure on research and third- Other operational costs Financial cycle courses and programmes rose by SEK Figure 33. HEI expenditure by item 2004–2012 0.9 billion. and totals, as well as developments in expen- diture in 2012 prices. Changes in volume for the HEIs For a number of years the HEIs in Sweden government agencies, SEK 0.6 billion more have been experiencing relatively major than in 2011, and altogether 80 per cent of changes in the numbers of places they offer. the HEIs’ revenues came from government For a few years between 2006 and 2008 the grants. An additional SEK 2.9 billion was economic upturn led to fewer applications also provided by other public sources (local from students and the HEIs were unable authorities and county councils as well as the to make full use of the funding allocated to research foundations established using wage- them and their direct funding declined. In earners’ investment funds). This means that 2008 student demand slowly began to rise 85 per cent of the total funding for HEIs in again and the HEIs received more funding. 2012 came from public sources in Sweden, The Government and the Riksdag raised fun- which is the same proportion as in the pre- ding for 2010–2011 temporarily for 25 HEIs by vious year. a total of SEK 700 million because of the re- cession. This temporary supplement came to Operational expenditure in 2012 totalled an end as planned in 2012, which meant that SEK 60.7 billion many HEIs received less funding for first and In 2012 the total expenditure by the HEIs on second-cycle courses and programmes. The their operations amounted to SEK 60.7 bil- impact of this was mitigated to some extent lion. Compared to the previous year expen- by the Government’s decision not to withhold diture has risen by SEK 2.3 billion in current SEK 330 million in 2012 as had previously prices. Recalculated in fixed prices this me- been announced because of the tuition fee re- ans an increase in expenditure of just under form for students from outside the EU/EEA. 1 per cent or SEK 0.8 billion. Staffing costs, In addition the Government reallocated fun- by far the largest expenditure item, have ri- ding between HEIs in order to develop spe- sen by two percentage points during the pe- cific professional programmes in technology riod 2004–2012 from 60.1 to 62.1 per cent. The and health care. proportion devoted to premises and to depre-
50 TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS In 2012 the HEIs’ revenues for first and se- Large increase in research grants cond-cycle courses and programmes amoun- The revenues of the HEIs that come from re- ted to SEK 25.9 billion. Compared to the pre- search grants (excluding the funding allocated vious year this is a drop of SEK 0.6 billion, a in the form of grants by the Swedish Legal, Fi- reduction of 2.4 per cent. nancial and Administrative Services Agency) amounted in 2012 to SEK 15.1 billion, which Rapid growth in funding for research is SEK 0.5 billion or 3 per cent more than in The research system in higher education the previous year (2012 prices). Grants for re- is currently undergoing a period of rapid search and third-cycle courses and program- growth. This is an effect of the measures pre- mes varied for most of the first decade of this sented by the Government in 2008 in its bill century between SEK 11 and 12 billion and, on research policy for the years 2009–2012, together with the increases in 2010–2012, the which involved raising the level of resources HEIs’ revenues from research grants have ri- for research and innovation by an amount sen in fixed prices by 30 per cent in four years. corresponding to SEK 5 billion. This increase A considerable proportion of government will continue according to the proposals in funding for research and third-cycle cour- the 2012 bill on research policy, which involve ses and programmes is channelled through raising funding levels by an additional SEK 4 the three research councils, the Swedish Re- billion by 2016. Changes in funding that does search Council, Fas (the Swedish Council for not come from public sources will also affect Working Life and Social Research) and For- the overall level, but about three-quarters of mas (the Swedish Research Council for En- the funding for research and third-cycle cour- vironment, Agricultural Sciences and Spati- ses and programmes at the HEIs is provided al Planning) as well as through Vinnova (the by the state. Swedish Governmental Agency for Innova- The HEIs’ revenues for research and third- tion Systems). In 2012 a total of SEK 5.9 bil- cycle courses and programmes amounted in lion (39 per cent) of the HEIs’ total revenues 2012 to SEK 34.9 billion. In current prices this from grants for research and third-cycle cour- corresponds to an increase of SEK 1.7 billion ses and programmes came from these four or 5.3 per cent compared to the previous year. agencies. Expressed in terms of fixed prices the rise in EU funding for research and third-cycle revenues was SEK 0.9 billion or 2.7 per cent. courses and programmes at HEIs in Sweden Most of this increase came from the state. amounted in 2012 to SEK 1.5 billion, which is somewhat more than in 2011. The rise is Viewed from a longer perspective, the HEIs’ due to increased revenues from the European revenues for research and third-cycle courses Research Council. Revenues from other in- and programmes were relatively unchanged ternational sources apart from the EU total- from 2002 to 2007 at about SEK 28 billion led altogether SEK 0.6 billion, in other words (in 2012 prices). In 2008 there was a rise in more or less the same level as in recent years. revenues in fixed prices and this increase has The HEIs’ revenues from Swedish non- continued for the last four years. Compared profit organisations totalled SEK 3.1 billion to 2007, revenues for research and third-cycle in 2012, or 21 per cent of the total grant reve- courses and programmes have risen in fixed nue. Combined with funding from companies prices from SEK 28 billion to 35 billion. This this means that the private sector in Sweden corresponds to an increase of SEK 6.8 billion accounts for a quarter of the total amount re- or 24 per cent. ceived in the form of research grants.
TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS 51
Key figures for higher education institutions
KEY FIGURES FOR HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS 53 Higher education is offered at about fifty uni- Third-cycle programmes and courses versities, university colleges and other insti- Third-cycle entrants. New students in tutions that vary greatly in size and degree third-cycle studies, 2012. of specialisation. The accompanying tables present quantitative data to describe the dif- Total number of third-cycle students. ferences and similarities between the HEIs. The number of active third-cycle students, au- The smallest institutions that are not run by tumn semester 2011. Active students are those the state have been excluded. who have reported at least 1 per cent of full- time study activity. First and second-cycle programmes and courses PhD degrees. The number of PhD degrees HE entrants to higher education at the awarded, 2012. institution. These figures indicate the num- ber of individuals beginning to study for the Licentiate degrees. The number of licen- first time at the institution in the academic tiate degrees awarded, 2012. year of 2011/12 in Sweden. Teaching and research staff Median age of new entrants. Median Teaching and research staff. The num- age of new entrants at the HEIs and new en- ber of teaching and research staff (in FTEs), trants for the first time in any HEI in the aca- 2012. The figures include professors, senior demic year of 2011/12. lectures, lecturers, post-doctoral research fel- lows, visiting lecturers, fixed-term part-time Proportion of men. The proportion of lecturers and other research and teaching men among new entrants. staff.
Total number of students. Total number Proportion of women. The proportion of of students, autumn semester 2012. women among teaching and research staff.
Education profile. The number of FTEs Proportion of teaching and research in some subject areas – humanities, theology, staff with PhDs. The proportion of the social science and technology - divided by all teaching and research staff with PhD degrees. FTEs in the academic year of 2011/12. Funding The proportion of FTEs in second- Total expenditure. Total expenditure cycle programmes and courses. The (SEK million), 2012. number of FTEs studying in the second cycle divided by all first and second-cycle FTEs in Proportion of first and second-cycle the academic year of 2011/12. programmes and courses. The propor- tion of expenditure for first and second-cycle Total number of qualifications awar- programmes and courses related to total ex- ded. The total number of qualifications penditure, 2012. awarded in the academic year of 2011/12.
54 KEY FIGURES FOR HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS First and second-cycle programmes and courses
HE entrants at Proportion of Total number of students University/University College the institution Median age men (%) (autumn semester 2012)
Total 189 847 21,7 45 356 998
Uppsala University 14 698 21,2 44 27 039
Lund University 13 097 21,3 45 31 540
University of Gothenburg 12 124 21,6 36 31 342
Stockholm University 19 580 21,4 38 36 339
Umeå University 12 760 21,9 41 22 026
Linköping University 7 786 21,4 50 19 877
Karolinska Institutet 3 623 22,7 28 7 654
KTH Royal Institute of Technology 6 936 21,9 69 13 365
Chalmers University of Technology 2 920 21,6 73 9 231
Luleå University of Technology 8 886 21,8 51 12 750
Stockholm School of Economics 682 22,1 56 1 813
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences 2 181 22,5 39 4 632
Karlstad University 5 613 21,5 40 10 597
Linnaeus University 14 956 21,8 42 19 982
Örebro University 6 106 21,2 40 10 728
Mid Sweden University 8 339 22,6 37 10 967
Blekinge Institute of Technology 3 809 22,4 58 4 858
Swedish National Defence College 449 21,3 74 559
Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences 633 21,7 56 948
University of Borås 4 521 22,0 31 7 535
Dalarna University 7 834 22,5 42 9 100
Gotland University 4 801 23,3 47 4 204
University of Gävle 7 191 22,6 36 9 275
Halmstad University 4 344 21,6 42 6 296
Jönköping University 6 914 21,8 43 9 870
Kristianstad University 7 768 22,8 33 8 004
University of Skövde 6 921 22,5 43 7 169
University West 4 073 21,9 37 7 118
Malmö University 9 007 21,9 36 16 068
Mälardalen University 5 932 21,8 39 9 861
Södertörn University 4 847 21,2 36 7 764
University of Dance and Circus 78 23,0 31 204
University College of Arts, Crafts and Design 286 25,4 32 769
Royal Institute of Art 116 28,0 42 216
Royal College of Music in Stockholm 183 22,4 68 790
University College of Opera, Stockholm 18 39
Stockholm Academy of Dramatic Arts 79 47 302
KEY FIGURES FOR HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS 55 First and second-cycle programmes and courses
Humanities/ Social sience Technology Second cycle Total number University/University College theology (%) / law (%) (%) (%) of degrees
Total 16 42 14 19 69 751
Uppsala University 20 40 8 23 5 025
Lund University 15 40 16 24 5 969
University of Gothenburg 20 47 21 5 828
Stockholm University 25 62 0 19 5 265
Umeå University 15 44 6 20 3 880
Linköping University 12 35 20 23 4 224
Karolinska Institutet 0 10 40 2 000
KTH Royal Institute of Technology 4 2 72 40 2 399
Chalmers University of Technology 2 7 64 36 3 374
Luleå University of Technology 13 31 29 13 1 371
Stockholm School of Economics 2 98 54 577
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences 0 15 21 30 952
Karlstad University 13 51 9 12 1 752
Linnaeus University 20 50 7 8 2 943
Örebro University 10 61 6 13 2 424
Mid Sweden University 18 48 12 8 1 858
Blekinge Institute of Technology 2 27 53 23 934
Swedish National Defence College 11 46 13 6 143
Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences 17 19 94
University of Borås 11 48 17 14 2 089
Dalarna University 39 36 9 8 1 178
Gotland University 54 22 18 4 217
University of Gävle 13 47 18 8 1 047
Halmstad University 17 44 14 8 1 271
Jönköping University 17 42 18 14 2 475
Kristianstad University 6 62 8 7 1 291
University of Skövde 11 35 29 7 820
University West 8 59 12 7 1 301
Malmö University 13 55 12 12 2 351
Mälardalen University 14 47 12 12 1 826
Södertörn University 35 49 0 7 1 046
University of Dance and Circus 38 13 23
University College of Arts, Crafts and Design 7 0 36 92
Royal Institute of Art 73 44
Royal College of Music in Stockholm 1 15 23 47
University College of Opera, Stockholm 43 12
Stockholm Academy of Dramatic Arts 26 63
56 KEY FIGURES FOR HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS Third-cycle programmes and courses
New third- Total number of third-cycle stu- Licentiate University/University College cycle students dents (autumn semester 2012) PhD degrees degrees
Total 3 718 18 934 2 535 790
Uppsala University 423 2 052 314 75
Lund University 497 2 726 325 62
University of Gothenburg 296 1 676 233 36
Stockholm University 295 1 548 229 65
Umeå University 237 1 122 174 15
Linköping University 204 1 210 169 55
Karolinska Institutet 436 2 307 301 7
KTH Royal Institute of Technology 430 1 952 235 153
Chalmers University of Technology 208 1 149 172 152
Luleå University of Technology 96 523 57 72
Stockholm School of Economics 21 138 16 2
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences 92 602 103 15
Karlstad University 74 245 25 9
Linnaeus University 51 282 38 6
Örebro University 104 477 55 14
Mid Sweden University 27 201 14 21
Blekinge Institute of Technology 10 102 18 9
Swedish National Defence College
Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences 9 15
University of Borås 9 45 2
Dalarna University 1 3
Gotland University
University of Gävle 7 10
Halmstad University 6 19 1
Jönköping University 31 146 21 2
Kristianstad University
University of Skövde 9 17
University West 5 9
Malmö University 46 154 13 1
Mälardalen University 74 183 20 19
Södertörn University 21 53
University of Dance and Circus
University College of Arts, Crafts and Design
Royal Institute of Art
Royal College of Music in Stockholm
University College of Opera, Stockholm
Stockholm Academy of Dramatic Arts
KEY FIGURES FOR HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS 57 Teaching and research staff Funding
Teaching and Proportion Teaching and Total Proportion of first research staff of research staff expenditure and second cycle University/University College (FTE) women (%) with PhD (%) (SEK million) education (%)
Total 27 878 43 57 60 728 43 Uppsala University 2 624 43 61 5 513 31 Lund University 2 798 37 67 6 926 34 University of Gothenburg 2 438 49 64 5 379 39 Stockholm University 2 132 46 60 4 283 43 Umeå University 1 866 45 62 3 927 42 Linköping University 1 545 39 63 3 323 45 Karolinska Institutet 1 952 52 63 5 506 18 KTH Royal Institute of Technology 1 484 24 57 3 891 32 Chalmers University of Technology 1 097 21 61 3 140 28 Luleå University of Technology 564 35 61 1 452 45 Stockholm School of Economics 96 22 80 374 58 Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences 1 427 44 59 3 150 20 Karlstad University 609 48 47 992 67 Linnaeus University 926 45 44 1 570 74 Örebro University 504 48 55 1 016 67 Mid Sweden University 485 44 48 945 59 Blekinge Institute of Technology 211 38 44 470 65 Swedish National Defence College 219 24 19 482 71 Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences 78 54 44 135 73 University of Borås 339 52 45 598 75 Dalarna University 417 55 40 595 82 Gotland University 105 36 42 190 76 University of Gävle 354 47 43 544 79 Halmstad University 274 45 45 487 77 Jönköping University 335 53 46 755 73 Kristianstad University 324 59 39 459 86 University of Skövde 240 41 41 403 79 University West 295 53 42 441 80 Malmö University 774 54 47 1 274 81 Mälardalen University 461 50 41 816 75 Södertörn University 352 50 65 647 57 University of Dance and Circus 34 58 6 70 85 University College of Arts, Crafts and Design 67 59 18 165 94 Royal Institute of Art 31 60 2 75 85 Royal College of Music in Stockholm 91 29 8 164 96 University College of Opera, Stockholm 13 54 27 80
Stockholm Academy of Dramatic Arts 48 60 1 134 93
58 KEY FIGURES FOR HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS Universities and university colleges in Sweden
HEIs with entitlement to award first, HEIs entitled to award first and second and third-cycle qualifications second-cycle qualifications
Accountable to the Government Accountable to the Government
Uppsala University Swedish National Defence College Lund University Dalarna University University of Gothenburg Gotland University Stockholm University Kristianstad University Umeå University University of Dance and Circus Linköping University Stockholm Academy of Dramatic Arts Karolinska Institutet University College of Arts, Crafts and Design KTH Royal Institute of Technology Luleå University of Technology Royal Institute of Art Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Royal College of Music in Stockholm Karlstad University University College of Opera, Stockholm Linnaeus University Mid Sweden University Independent Örebro University Beckmans College of Design Blekinge Institute of Technology* Malmö University* Ersta Sköndal University College Mälardalen University* Gammelkroppa School of Forestry The Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences* Johannelund Theological Seminary University of Borås* Newman Institute University of Gävle* The Red Cross University College Halmstad University* University College of Music Education in Stockholm University of Skövde* Sophiahemmet University College Södertörn University* Stockholm School of Theology University West* Örebro School of Theology
In addition there are a number of education providers Independent entitled to award qualifications in psychotherapy. Chalmers University of Technology
Stockholm School of Economics
Jönköping University*
*University Colleges entitled to award third-cycle qualifi- cations in one or several restricted disciplinary domains at the end of 2012.
UNIVERSITIES AND UNIVERSITY COLLEGES IN SWEDEN 59
Higher education in Sweden 2013 status report Report 2013:3 legal supervision and leadership development in higher education. leadership development in higher legal supervision and www.uk-ambetet.se. can read more on the web-site You questions concerning universities and university colleges and is responsible for universities and university colleges questions concerning statistics SHEA about higher education. The the quality assurance of works with and evaluating efficiency, and programmes, monitoring higher education courses The Swedish Higher Education Authority is a government agency that deals with is a government agency that deals with Swedish Higher Education Authority The