| The organisation of study and range of courses offered are determined locally and students have been given increased freedom of choice over study route within the framework of a new internationally valid Degree Ordinance, attached to the 1993 Higher Education Ordinance. The purpose of the institutions of higher education, as stated in the Higher Education Act of 1993, is to provide education and carry out research and artistic development; there should be a close connection between these two main duties. Emphasis is placed on quality and the effective use of available resources. Equality between men and women should be observed in all aspects of higher education. Universities and university colleges should also promote an understanding of other countries and international relationships. State institutions are: - The Universities of Uppsala, Lund, Göteborg, Stockholm, Umeå and Linköping
- University colleges in different parts of the country,
- Single-faculty institutions, i.e. Karolinska Institute (Medicine and Dentistry), the Royal Institute of Technology, Chalmers University of Technology. The Stockholm Institute of Education and the University College of Physical Education and Sports,
- Smaller university colleges for various areas of Arts.
Under the auspices of the country councils there are twenty-six colleges of Health Sciences, which provide preparatory courses for work in the paramedical professions. State-run universities and university colleges are central government agencies and their employees are civil servants. Admission To be admitted to higher education in Sweden, a student must first fulfill the general eligibility requirements which are common to all programmes or courses, and then meet the specific eligibility requirements which are usually imposed on applicants by the individual university or university college. The latter vary according to the field of education. The general eligibility requirements for undergraduate education are the successful completion of a 3 year national programme of the upper secondary school or other equivalent Swedish of foreign education or the acquisition of the equivalent level of knowledge, e.g. through work experience. Applicants with a mother tongue other than one of the Nordic languages shall possess the requisite knowledge of Swedish, acquired e.g. through a preparatory course in Swedish of one year's duration. Responsibility for the admission and selection of students rests with the institutions themselves. Within a generally formulated framework, they are able to decide what selection criteria shall be used for admission to their courses and whether the admission procedure shall be carried out locally or by using the central service function provided by the National Agency for Higher Education. For the selection of students one or more of the following criteria are applicable: school marks; results on the university aptitude test (a national, non-compulsory test) which is common for all institutions of higher education or a special test (e.g. interviews), or previous education and work experience. During the 1970's and 1980's the Swedish higher education system had a nearly constant capacity with a total number of entrants of between 40.000 and 45.000 per year in spite of considerable increase in the demand for higher education. Since 1991, however, there has been a steady expansion of the total number of places for undergraduate studies and by the mid-1990s the increase of students will be about 30 percent. Roughly 30% of young persons go on to higher education after completion of their compulsory and upper secondary schooling. Apart from students coming straight from school, the post-secondary student population includes a relatively large proportion of mature students, i.e. students who have previously acquired various amounts of work experience. Student Finance Higher education is free of charge. The post-secondary study assistance scheme applies to students in undergraduate education at universities, university colleges and certain other establishments, as well as to students aged 20 and over attending upper secondary school and other forms of upper secondary schooling. This study assistance consists of a non-repayable grant plus a larger repayable loan, awarded for both full-time and part-time studies. Academic Year The academic year comprises 40 weeks, divided into two semesters. The Autumn term usually runs from the middle or end of August to mid-January, the Spring term runs from mid-January to the beginning of June. There is usually a two-week teaching break at Christmas. Courses/Qualifications In the new system of undergraduate education, students are able to choose their study route freely and to combine different subject courses into a degree. For study intended to lead to a degree, courses may be combined to form an educational programme, if the university or university college so wishes. The requirements for various courses of study are set out in the Degree Ordinance. All courses and educational courses also have to follow curricula, established by the individual university or university college. Undergraduate studies are available in the form of study courses or as single-subject courses. A first degree programme will generally take between 2 and 5½ years to complete. The single-subject courses vary in length from 5 weeks to 1½ years. The average number of study hours is 40 hours per week for full-time studies, including individual studies and group work. Study time is measured in points; one week's full-time study is equivalent to one point and one term's full-time study to 20 points Instruction takes the form of lectures to large groups (up to 300 students) and seminars of about 30 students. Students are also expected to participate actively in group work, laboratory work and seminars. The language of instruction is usually Swedish, but a great deal of the compulsory course literature is in English. A number of courses include practical training in the relevant industry or the public sector. Sometimes the practical training takes place during the summer holidays . In many courses a large part of the final term is devoted to work on a degree project or thesis. Students work on these projects individually or in small groups. There are two kinds of first degrees - general degrees and professional ones. The professional degrees are awarded upon completion of courses of varying length (2 to 5½ years), leading to specific professions, e.g. University Diploma in medicine or Education. The general degrees are: - Diploma after studies amounting to not less than 80 points (2 years of study)
- Bachelor's degree after completion of at least 120 points (at least 3 years of study), including 60 points in the major subject and a thesis of 10 points.
- Master's degree after studies amounting to not less than 160 points (at least 4 years of study), including 80 points in the major subject and one thesis of 20 points or two of 10 points.
Assessment All courses are subject to continuos examination, written and/or oral. There are, however, no final examinations which cover an entire three or five-year programme. This means that the students have to be prepared to give proof of the knowledge they have acquired every three or four week. Marks are generally awarded on a three-level scale: Fail, Pass and Pass with distinction. Some courses are only graded Fail and Pass and some faculties, i.e. Engineering and Law, have other grading systems. Teachers As from the academic year 1993/94, each university and university college is entitled to decide on the establishment of chairs and the appointment of staff. The teaching staff are grouped into the following main categories: professors, senior lectures, lectures and research assistants. Since 1986 duties of different kinds - teaching, reSearch (in Swedish), personal study, educational counselling and administration - have been included in the same appointment. Professors have some teaching commitments but are mainly engaged in research. Senior lecturers must have a doctorate and be active in both research and teaching. Lecturers are not required to have a doctorate. To be appointed, they must also have displayed proficiency in teaching undergraduates. Literature on Swedish Higher Education If you are interested in knowing more about Swedish higher educatiion there are some books available like Transforming Higher Education by Maurice Kogan, Marianne Bauer, Ivar Bleiklie, Mary Henkel. More books are listed here on Print Google. Pre-school Education | Compulsory Education | Post-Compulsory Education | Higher Education | Links to universities | 