Higher Education in Sweden 2015 Status Report
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REPORT 2015:16 HIGHER EDUCATION IN SWEDEN HIGHER EDUCATION The Swedish Higher Education Authority (UKÄ) is a government agency that deals with questions concerning higher education. UKÄ is responsible for the official statistics on higher education and also works with the quality assurance of higher education courses and programmes, monitoring and evaluating efficiency, legal supervision and leadership development in higher education. You can read more on the web-site www.uka.se. REPORT 2015:16 REPORT Higher education in Sweden 2015 STATUS REPORT Introduction Higher education is Sweden’s largest public-sector service provider and the concern of many stakeholders. It is important for discussions about higher education and the decisions that affect the way it functions to be based on factual knowledge. Higher Education in Sweden – 2015 status report is a short English version of the annual statistical report on higher education institutions (HEIs) in Sweden published by the Swedish Higher Education Authority (Universitetskanslersämbetet, UKÄ). The ambition is to provide accurate information about the status of Sweden’s higher education. Here you will find answers to questions such as: • How well is Sweden doing from an international perspective? • How much does the Swedish state invest in higher education and the research undertaken at the country’s HEIs? • How many students are acquiring qualifications from higher education in Sweden? This report is based on the statistical data continually reported by the HEIs to Statistics Sweden and the data reported directly to UKÄ in connection with the submission of their annual reports to the Government. Initially, the report summarises some indicators for Swedish higher edu- cation from an international perspective and, under the heading Facts about higher education in Sweden, provides a basic description of the structure of Swedish higher education and the regulatory framework. The report then outlines developments prior to and including the fiscal year of 2014 for public-sector and independent HEIs. The last chapter presents key data about students, staff and finance for each HEI. Harriet Wallberg University Chancellor Higher education in Sweden 2015 Status Report Published by Swedish Higher Education Authority 2015 Report 2015:16 Editor: Andrea Amft Translator: David Jones, Rhetorica AB Graphic design and graphics: AB Typoform Photos: Thinkstock Print: TMG Tabergs, Växjö, June 2015 Swedish Higher Education Authority • Löjtnantsgatan 21 • Box 7703, SE-103 95 Stockholm phone +46 8 563 085 00 • fax +46 8 563 085 50 • e-mail [email protected] • www.uka.se Contents Sweden in an international perspective ................................................ 5 Fact about higher education in Sweden .............................................. 13 Higher education in Sweden ................................................................. 14 The structure of programmes and qualifications ............................................ 17 Admission to higher education............................................................... 18 Tuition fees ................................................................................... 18 Student finance .............................................................................. 19 Trends and developments .............................................................. 21 First and second-cycle courses and programme ........................................... 22 Third-cycle courses and programmes ...................................................... 37 International mobility ........................................................................ 42 Education and employment ................................................................. 46 Teachers and researchers ................................................................... 50 Finance and research funding ............................................................... 55 Key figures for higher education institutions ........................................ 61 Universities and university colleges in Sweden 2014 .............................. 67 Sweden in an international perspective Investment in education is regarded by the EU and OECD as investment in growth and raising educational levels considered to favour social development. Higher education is also linked to better health and improved possibilities of establishment in the labour market as well as higher incomes. Raising educational levels is one of the goals of the EU’s strategy for jobs and growth. HIGHER EDUCATION IN SWEDEN – 2015 STATUS REPORT 5 In this chapter we are using data from inter- generations. Among the younger generations national sources to compare investments in (25–34 years old) 40 per cent have at least two education in Sweden and developments in years of tertiary education, while the corre- Sweden’s educational levels with other coun- sponding figure for the older population tries. Most of the data come from the OECD (55–64) is 25 per cent. publication Education at a Glance (EAG), of Educational attainment in Sweden is which the most recent version was published somewhat higher than the OECD average. in the autumn of 2014, as well as Education at The proportion of the younger population a Glance Interim Report, published in January with tertiary education is 45 per cent, whereas 2015. We have also used data from Eurostat’s the corresponding figure for the older popula- statistical database. tion is 29 per cent, a difference in other words of 16 percentage points – as large as the OECD Educational levels in Sweden average. higher than OECD average In many OECD countries tertiary education In Sweden higher education accounts has been expanded during recent decades and for 80 per cent of all tertiary education educational attainment has gradually been In Sweden most tertiary education is offered raised. In 2013 one-third of the adult popula- in the form of higher education (about 80 per tion (25–64 years old) in the OECD had at least cent). This is because on the whole all tertiary two years of tertiary education compared to education was incorporated into higher edu- 22 per cent in 2000. As expansion of tertiary cation in 1977, for example programmes in education has in most cases occurred fairly nursing and education. In recent years higher recently, there are relatively large differences in vocational education programmes have been educational attainment in different introduced (mainly ISCED 5B) but these still INTERNATIONAL CLASSIFICATION OF EDUCATION AND EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT Since the mid-1970s the classification of prises education of two to three years that education has been systematised through has a more practical or vocational orien- the International Standard Classification of tation. Whether educational programmes Education (ISCED). This classification has are classified as 5A or 5B varies from coun- recently been revised by UNESCO/UIS, but try to country. Education at doctoral level is up to now no statistics have been published placed in level 6. using the new ISCED classifications (ISCED In Sweden first and second-cycle pro- 2011). This analysis is based, in other grammes are classified as level 5A, while words, on ISCED 97. some short higher education programmes ISCED 97 places education correspond- and those offered within the framework of ing to first and second-cycle programmes higher vocational education that are longer and other tertiary education of at least than two years are classified as 5B. In this two years in level 5. Level 5 is divided into report levels 5A, 5B and 6 are referred to 5A and 5B. Level 5A comprises higher collectively as, “tertiary education”, and are education of at least three years or more generally classified as ISCED 5/6. Note that and that can qualify for entry to doctoral this does not include any higher education programmes, while 5B normally com- programmes that are shorter than two years. 6 HIGHER EDUCATION IN SWEDEN – 2015 STATUS REPORT account for a relatively small proportion of in the OECD was higher than for women. In tertiary education in Sweden. The fact that as 2000 23 per cent of the men in the adult popu- many as nine per cent of 25–34-year-olds in lation (25-64) had at least two years of tertiary the Swedish population have shorter tertiary education while the corresponding figure for education (ISCED 5B) is because this includes women was 21 per cent. But the educational up to 2-3 years of studies in higher education levels of women have risen more rapidly than without a qualification being awarded. There for men, which means that today women have is free access to Sweden’s higher education higher educational levels than men in the system and many students take courses with- majority of the OECD countries. On average out aiming for a qualification. 35 per cent of the women in the adult popu- Other countries have carried out reforms of lation had at least two years of tertiary educa- the same type as the one implemented in tion in 2013, while the corresponding figure Sweden in 1977, but in many cases later. One for men was 31 per cent. example is Finland, where the education In Sweden the gender imbalance is con- system was reformed in the 1990s so that pro- siderably larger – 43 per cent of women have grammes in nursing and nautical science, attained this level of education while the which had previously been offered at what figure for men is at the same level as the OECD was called institutional level (ISCED 5B), became average, i.e. 31 per cent have