Higher Education Institutions in Norway

Norway has many higher education institutions offering high quality education and research

There are four main categories of institutions providing Higher Education in Norway:

  1. Universities
  2. Specialised Universities
  3. University Colleges/Universities of Applied Sciences
  4. University Colleges with accredited study programmes

Universities have the right to establish programmes at all levels, while the other categories rely on NOKUT (The Norwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education) for accreditation of certain levels and programmes. 

 

Universities:

Universities have the right to establish programmes at all levels.

 

Specialised Universities:

Specialised Universities can accredit study programmes at bachelor’s degree level in all subject areas. They may also accredit study programmes at all levels in subjects in which they have been granted the right to award doctoral degrees.

 

University Colleges/ Universities of Applied Sciences:

University Colleges/Universitites of Applied Sciences have the right to establish study programmes at all levels within their majors.

 

University Colleges with accredited study programmes:

University Colleges that are not accredited institutions must apply to NOKUT for accreditation of study programmes at all levels. Note: Some of these University Colleges only have Norwegian names and websites.

 

The University Centre at Svalbard

Students registered at a Norwegian higher education institution, may take some of their courses or research at The University Centre at Svalbard (UNIS), a research and education centre offering studies in english, within arctic biology, -geology, -geophysics and -technology at 78 degrees north in the Spitsbergen island in the arctic ocean.