439440_not-searchable
/en/utdanning/statistikker/utuvh/aar
439440
statistikk
2021-03-25T08:00:00.000Z
Education;Immigration and immigrants
en
utuvh, Students in higher education, educational institution, specialist field (for example social studies, law, humanities and arts), students abroad, countries of destination, type of institution, ownership, immigrants, norwegian-born with immigrant parents, parents' educational attainment levelTertiary education, Education, Immigration and immigrants, Education
true

Students in higher education

Updated

Corrected

Next update

Not yet determined

Key figures

37.8 %

of 19-24-year-olds were in higher education in 2019

Students in higher education in Norway and abroad
201020192020
Corrected 8 April 2021.
Students in higher education
Total241 302296 182306 367
Males95 974119 186122 485
Females145 328176 996183 882
Proportion 19-24 years in higher education
Total31.235.837.8
Males25.228.529.9
Females37.643.546.4
Proportion 25-29 years in higher education
Total14.915.916.7
Males13.113.914.6
Females16.817.918.9

See selected tables from this statistics

Table 1 
Resident students in Norway by immigration category

Resident students in Norway by immigration category
2020
TotalImmigrantsNorwegian-born to immigrant parentsOther population
MalesFemalesMalesFemalesMalesFemalesMalesFemales
Corrected 8 April 2021.
Total, 19-34 years100 612140 12910 33014 0485 5866 92384 696119 158
19 years5 3309 2895077976008624 2237 630
20 years9 39515 6147001 1608141 1207 88113 334
21 years12 22318 6388321 2577741 08110 61716 300
22 years12 55417 6059221 20671083710 92215 562
23 years12 05715 6899231 19361274910 52213 747
24 years10 53012 9998931 1125195809 11811 307
25 years8 3839 8307829274054347 1968 469
26 years6 4637 7406848413293245 4506 575
27 years4 9696 1926598092142384 0965 145
28 years4 1945 3426027801811903 4114 372
29 years3 4224 5235706951241432 7283 685
30-34 years11 09216 6682 2563 2713043658 53213 032
Proportion registered in higher education
Total, 19-34 years17.125.19.513.427.937.118.427.4
19 years16.330.113.626.031.349.315.629.3
20 years27.348.717.135.143.261.527.749.5
21 years35.158.218.737.044.667.537.160.3
22 years36.754.920.931.945.359.238.758.0
23 years34.247.920.230.042.353.536.050.2
24 years29.138.218.124.035.442.130.640.4
25 years23.028.814.318.727.532.524.430.4
26 years17.622.311.814.923.826.618.523.6
27 years13.417.59.912.717.320.614.018.4
28 years10.914.78.210.615.618.211.415.7
29 years8.812.17.38.812.014.09.012.9
30-34 years5.78.94.56.58.110.36.19.8

Table 2 
Students by educational institution

Students by educational institution
Students
2020
Both sexesMalesFemales
Corrected 8 April 2021.
Educational institutions, total306 367122 485183 882
Nord university11 1414 0837 058
Norwegian University of Life Sciences6 0642 2883 776
Norwegian University of Science and Technology41 92320 39721 526
Oslo Metropolitan University21 3026 74914 553
UiT - The Arctic University of Norway16 7996 9579 842
University of Agder13 4635 6317 832
University of Bergen18 9057 61611 289
University of Oslo26 54310 42916 114
University of Stavanger12 4735 2307 243
University of South-Eastern Norway17 8106 79811 012
The Oslo School of Architecture and Design798331467
BI Norwegian Business School21 03110 47510 556
Molde University College - Specialised University of Logistics2 8581 2761 582
Oslo National Academy of the Arts568197371
MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society1 212473739
Norwegian School of Economics3 5302 1601 370
Norwegian School of Sport Sciences1 106556550
Norwegian Academy of Music762383379
VID Specialised University5 2018044 397
Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences15 5135 22810 285
Østfold University College6 9812 4964 485
Volda University College4 4151 3463 069
Western Norway University of Applied Sciences15 7385 55710 181
Sámi University of Applied Sciences1142688
Bjørknes University College2 2574731 784
Queen Maud University College1 4392441 195
Kristiania University College12 8244 5998 225
NLA University College2 5568821 674
Norwegian Police University College2 2161 1601 056
Military University Colleges887710177
Other University Colleges4 4051 6942 711
Abroad13 5335 2378 296

Table 3 
Field of education for students in Norway and abroad

Field of education for students in Norway and abroad
NumbersPer centPer cent
TotalMalesFemales
201020192020201020192020201020192020
1Includes preparatory courses for university or university college education. Includes not preparatory course for engineering education as of 2014.
2Students who take a whole degree abroad.
Corrected 8 April 2021.
Fields of Education
Students in Norway227 747281 702292 83439.840.240.060.259.860.0
General programmes11 73437169482.468.575.517.631.524.5
Humanities and arts26 33928 49128 56937.839.740.162.760.359.9
Education33 34248 26649 27524.127.627.675.872.472.4
Social sciences and law31 15036 46737 98337.835.635.362.764.464.7
Business and administration42 00052 38357 87246.047.246.353.752.853.7
Natural sciences, vocational and technical subjects37 71249 76450 75768.465.465.832.134.634.2
Health, welfare and sport48 64855 54357 37820.922.721.477.677.378.6
Primary industries1 1781 5621 65655.147.943.046.252.157.0
Transport and communications, safety and security and other services4 0556 9717 00169.062.164.131.937.935.9
Unspecified field of study1 5891 8841 64938.940.337.961.159.762.1
 
Norwegian students abroad213 55514 48013 53340.038.138.760.061.961.3
General programmes1000......
Humanities and arts2 0281 7681 60630.631.733.169.468.366.9
Education190918830.528.621.669.571.478.4
Social sciences and law2 4792 8452 66230.625.025.069.475.075.0
Business and administration2 7262 8272 60551.051.454.549.048.645.5
Natural sciences, vocational and technical subjects1 4162 0861 96953.053.353.147.046.746.9
Health, welfare and sport4 5134 5984 51739.134.933.960.965.166.1
Primary industries3343499.114.012.290.986.087.8
Transport and communications, safety and security and other services169201846.275.072.253.825.027.8
Unspecified field of study1202190.016.821.1100.083.278.9

Table 4 
Country of study for students abroad

Country of study for students abroad1
TotalMalesFemales
201020192020201020192020201020192020
1Students who take a whole degree abroad.
Corrected 8 April 2021.
Countries of destination
Total13 55514 48013 5335 4245 5235 2378 1318 9578 296
Denmark2 4232 2582 1667797857661 6441 4731 400
Sweden709529460265213167444316293
France21417418780798413495103
Ireland13164582223221094136
Italy55104109204645355864
Netherlands357591632157259271200332361
Poland1 3641 5901 548609615566755975982
Spain983463813211812966228252
United Kingdom3 4173 7283 5091 2991 2931 2782 1182 4352 231
Switzerland507166233734273432
Germany18329228066139128117153152
Hungary735761718273226198462535520
Czech Republic2532112001329085121121115
Slovak Republic303506500128176178175330322
Rest of Europe273567643127259290146308353
Africa682314328736157
Asia121304197761218245183115
Canada151132106775849747457
USA1 1761 6101 326598797712578813614
Rest of North- and Central America922301621
South America2311109351485
Australia1 384557391596170131788387260
Rest of Oceania5641302069363521
Unknown280120160

Table 5 
Students in selected programmes by immigration category

Students in selected programmes by immigration category
2020
NumbersPer cent
TotalImmigrantsNorwegian-born to immigrant parentsOther population
Corrected 8 April 2021.
Men
3 year degree, bachelor56 14011.75.782.7
Of which
Pre-school-/kindergarten teacher education1 54513.55.081.6
Specific subject and vocational teacher, foundation programme7746.73.090.3
Engineering, foundation programme9 07314.15.980.0
Nursing, foundation programme2 23323.82.873.4
Business and Administration subjects15 06610.26.982.9
 
4 year degree, bachelor4954.21.694.1
Of which
General-/Primary and lower secondary teacher education1283.91.694.5
 
5 year degree, master32 63211.23.984.9
Of which
Master of Law1 8652.75.192.1
Master of Pharmacy13641.919.139.0
Master of Odontology18826.614.459.0
Master of Science in Business and Economics1 6648.46.485.2
Master of Technology, Graduate engineering degree7 11811.95.183.0
Master degree, primary and lower secondary teacher education3 2223.13.593.5
Master degree, teacher training2 1354.63.891.6
 
6 year degree1 8788.96.085.0
Of which
Cand.med. (Medicine)1 22110.67.981.5
Cand.theol.1108.20.990.9
Cand.psychol.4845.23.191.7
Cand.med.vet. (Veterinary Science)637.90.092.1
 
Women
3 year degree, bachelor75 59412.24.982.9
Of which
Pre-school-/kindergarten teacher education7 10712.84.183.1
Specific subject and vocational teacher, foundation programme74010.93.485.7
Engineering, foundation programme2 27118.17.074.9
Nursing, foundation programme13 24211.73.085.3
Business and Administration subjects14 15511.95.482.7
 
4 year degree, bachelor6387.42.889.8
Of which
General-/Primary and lower secondary teacher education3575.33.990.8
 
5 year degree, master44 74710.83.585.7
Of which
Master of Law3 5565.14.990.0
Master of Pharmacy43333.721.944.3
Master of Odontology56920.415.364.3
Master of Science in Business and Economics1 05010.15.784.2
Master of Technology, Graduate engineering degree3 39210.94.984.2
Master degree, primary and lower secondary teacher education7 2203.72.993.4
Master degree, teacher training3 1235.84.889.4
 
6 year degree5 0576.95.687.5
Of which
Cand.med. (Medicine)2 9697.57.684.9
Cand.theol.9811.21.087.8
Cand.psychol.1 6235.23.391.4
Cand.med.vet. (Veterinary Science)3677.90.591.6

Table 6 
Parents’ level of education for resident students in Norway

Parents’ level of education for resident students in Norway
200520152020
All residentsPropotion which was registered in higher educationAll residentsPropotion which was registered in higher educationAll residentsPropotion which was registered in higher education
Corrected 8 April 2021.
19-24 years
Males168 03325.3210 95827.9207 66229.9
Mother or father has long higher education16 58255.323 47254.929 14155.0
Mother or father has short higher education43 35637.865 16438.370 81437.7
Mother or father has upper secondary education79 72818.086 77219.776 36720.3
Mother or father has primary and lower secondary education21 0348.920 06712.217 12215.3
Not stated7 33310.115 4839.414 2188.5
 
Females162 04136.8198 04942.3193 78946.4
Mother or father has long higher education15 28963.722 08165.227 27765.9
Mother or father has short higher education41 43551.661 37754.167 45455.4
Mother or father has upper secondary education75 37631.581 25336.871 84139.4
Mother or father has primary and lower secondary education19 99116.618 94922.216 08827.9
Not stated9 95013.714 38915.111 12915.3
 
25-29 years
Males143 47614.8183 76113.7187 73314.6
Mother or father has long higher education11 98333.515 97529.918 84429.5
Mother or father has short higher education31 14023.044 81721.353 15520.6
Mother or father has upper secondary education71 44111.170 38410.472 15210.4
Mother or father has primary and lower secondary education16 7726.218 2406.516 7758.1
Not stated12 1409.334 3456.926 8077.8
 
Females141 84117.8177 55117.6178 00118.9
Mother or father has long higher education11 39835.415 14131.717 72931.7
Mother or father has short higher education29 18326.842 40425.849 81025.0
Mother or father has upper secondary education68 33114.866 62015.867 56416.2
Mother or father has primary and lower secondary education16 1279.217 18711.015 67112.6
Not stated16 80210.836 1998.427 2279.6

About the statistics

The statistics cover all students registered in higher education as of October 1. Persons enrolled in doctoral programs (PhD) are not included. It includes students taking entire study programs abroad, excluding exchange students. Statistics covering new students in higher education is updated in June.

 

Definitions

Definitions of the main concepts and variables

Enrolled students: Students registered at an approved institution for higher education in Norway and students from Norway registered abroad in higher education, excluding exchange students.

Type of school: According to the Standard Industrial Classification of 2007. The schools are classified as Universities, Specialized University Institutions, and University Colleges, where University Colleges are again divided into three main groups: State University Colleges, Military Colleges and “other university colleges.”

Educational activity: According to the Norwegian Standard Classification of Education (NUS2000). Programmes are classified according to their level and field of study

School county/school municipality: The county/municipality where the institution is located. 

County of residence at 16 years: County where the student resided at the age 16.

Highest educational attainment of parents: Parental educational attainment is divided into four categories: (1) Primary and lower secondary education, (2) Upper secondary education, (3) Higher education, short (at least two years, but also 4 years or less), and (4) Higher education, long (more than four years). Parental educational attainment is defined by that of the parents with the highest level of education. For example, if the parental educational attainment of a student is “(3) Higher education, short,” it implies that at least one of the parents has education at this level. Cases where there is no information on the level of education of any of the parents falls into the “Unspecified” group. See also the definitions of educational level.

Immigrants: Persons born abroad of two foreign-born parents and four foreign-born grandparents.

Norwegian-born to immigrant parents: Persons who are born in Norway of two parents born abroad, and in addition have four grandparents born abroad.

Teacher training and pedagogy programmes include: Teacher training programme; Various bachelor’s programmes in pre-school/kindergarten teacher education, specific subject/vocational teacher education and within pedagogy; General teacher/primary and lower secondary teacher programme and specific subject/vocational teacher education; Master’s programmes in teacher training and pedagogy; Postgraduate programmes for teachers.

Age: Estimated as of December 31.

Standard classifications

Educational activities are grouped by the Norwegian Standard Classification of Education which was established in 1970 by Statistics Norway and later revised in 1973, 1989 and 2000. Educational institutions are classified as being higher education by the Standard Industrial Classification

For international purposes, the ISCED 2011 is used (International Standard Classification of Education).

Administrative information

Name and topic

Name: Students in higher education
Topic: Education

Responsible division

Division for Education and Culture Statistics

Regional level

Figures are presented at national level, at municipal level and by educational institution. Data on enrolment in higher education includes information that makes it possible to provide figures at other regional levels.

Frequency and timeliness

Final figures are published annually in March/April and refer to enrolment in higher education as of October 1 the year before.

International reporting

Data on enrolment is delivered to OECD, UNESCO and Eurostat (U-O-E).

Microdata

Statistics Norway stores all data in a proper, standardised manner in consultation with the Norwegian Data Protection Authority.

Statistics Norway can deliver supplementary data and tables related to these statistics. To order supplementary data and tables, please contact Statistics Norway: oppdragutdanning@ssb.no. The price will depend on the size of the order.

Background

Background and purpose

There is a high demand for the collection of official statistics on education. Official education statistics are individually based and document all educational activities for current students at universities and colleges in Norway and abroad.

Norway’s education statistics went through a structural readjustment in the beginning of the 1970’s. All statistics on higher education were previously available through a census. The data is now individually based, where all educational activities are attached to each individual’s personal ID-number. The data is contained in the National Education Database (NUDB), in a format that allows the production of different kinds of education statistics and alignment with other types of individually based statistics where necessary (e.g. income, social-welfare).

The purpose of the statistics is to present individually based statistics of students in higher education in Norway and abroad.

Users and applications

Important users of the education statistics are the Ministry of Education and Research, public administration, researchers, special interest organisations, international organisations (Eurostat, OECD and UNESCO), media, business and industry. In addition, data is used internally in Statistics Norway in publications and in assignments.

Equal treatment of users

No external users have access to the statistics and analyses before they are published and accessible simultaneously for all users on ssb.no at 8:00 AM. Prior to this, a minimum of three months’ advance notice is given in the Statistics Release Calendar. This is one of Statistics Norway’s key principles for ensuring that all users are treated equally.

Coherence with other statistics

Data from higher education is combined with data from lower- and upper secondary education when revision processes are complete. Data is then stored as single annual files in the National Education Database (NUDB). Statistics Norway uses a similar system for all individually based statistics, making it easy to combine education statistics with other statistics. Labour market statistics, health statistics, living conditions statistics and income and wage statistics are examples of other individually based statistics compiled by Statistics Norway.

Legal authority

Act of 21 June 2019 No. 32 relating to official statistics and Statistics Norway § 10.

EEA reference

Commission Regulation (EU) No 88/2011 of 2 February 2011 implementing Regulation (EC) No 452/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the production and development of statistics on education and lifelong learning, as regards statistics on education and training systems.

Production

Population

The statistics cover all students of educational institutions that are classified as universities, specialised universities or university colleges in the Standard Industrial Classification per 1 October each year.

Universities: Nord University, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, OsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan University (formerly known as Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences), Norwegian University of Science and Technology, University of Agder, University of Bergen, University of Oslo, University of South-Eastern Norway, University of Stavanger, and UiT The Arctic University of Norway. 

Specialised University Institutions: BI – Norwegian Business School, MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society, Molde University College – Specialized University in Logistics, NHH – Norwegian School of Economics, Norwegian Academy of Music, Oslo National Academy of the Arts, Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, Oslo School of Architecture and Design, and VID Specialized University. 

University Colleges are grouped into: State University Colleges, Military University Colleges and “other university colleges.” State University College is a term derived from the reform of 1994 in colleges in Norway, which resulted in the consolidation of 98 smaller state colleges into 26 larger units. 

In recent years, a number of institutions in higher education has been merged into larger units, see changes in educational institutions (in Norwegian).

As some University Colleges were merged in 2016 into larger units, there was a decrease in the number of students in University Colleges, as well as a corresponding increase in the number of students in Universities and in Specialized University Institutions.

There are several criteria for how a student’s educational activity is recorded. Each student can be registered as active in only one educational activity, although he/she may be registered for several educational activities or educational institutions at the same time. If a student is registered for several activities or several institutions at the same time, education at the highest level is maintained above others, educational activity at a Specialised University Institution is chosen over education at other types of school, and full-time activity is chosen over part-time activities. If a student is enrolled in several part-time educational activities, the one with highest level is chosen. Persons in doctoral programmes (PhD) are not included. 

Information on students abroad only includes students who take a whole degree abroad, excluding exchange students.

Data sources and sampling

Pursuant to the Statistical Act, Statistics Norway collects student data from Database for Statistics on Higher Education (DBH) and the administrative systems of various higher education institutions.

Information on students abroad is provided by the State Education Loan Fund.

Surveys are not employed to collect education statistics. All data is obtained from university and college databases.

Collection of data, editing and estimations

Data collection: Pursuant to the Statistical Act (June 1989, No.54), Statistics Norway collects student data from Database for Statistics on Higher Education (DBH), the administrative systems of various higher education institutions, and the State Education Loan Fund.

Editing: Editing includes both control and revision and is performed on all educational data collected. It encompasses deletion of duplicate records, a control for correct and valid values for each variable, comparisons with last year’s data and checks for missing information. Several variables are re-coded to comply with control programs run by Statistics Norway. Personal ID-numbers are referenced against Statistics Norway’s population database to check for errors. At last, duplicate students are deleted, which implies that a student can only be counted once although the student may be registered for several educational activities or educational institutions at the same time.

Estimation: No estimation is performed. The statistics are based data obtained from university and college databases.

Seasonal adjustment

Not relevant

Confidentiality

Data is not released where there are less than three units within a single cell in a table if there is a risk of identification, i.e. the data can be traced back to an identifiable person.

Comparability over time and space

Individually based data on students has been published annually since it was first collected in 1974. Most variables are comparable, but some have changed. The Norwegian Standard Classification of Education (NUS2000) has been revised to secure comparability over time. While educational variables are reasonably comparable over time, other variables, e.g. various institution types, cannot be re-coded and thus not comparable over time.

Accuracy and reliability

Sources of error and uncertainty

Statistical investigations may encounter various sources of error. The errors can occur either during data collection (in this case, registration of student information) or during data processing (control and revision processes performed by Statistics Norway).

It is difficult to estimate the extent of error in student registers. A person may be wrongly registered as being a student, especially for individual institutions that use a different enumeration date than Statistics Norway (October 1). There could be an overestimation of enrolled students since student registration occur with payment of registration fees rather than enrolment in courses. In addition, some students could remain as enrolled students in the system even after graduating. There is also the possibility of students reporting inaccurate information about themselves in registration. Personal responsible for reporting student data at institutions could also make errors during data processing. 

Information on students abroad is provided by the State Education Loan Fund. However, Norwegian students abroad who are not registered in the State Education Loan Fund’s system are missed out in the statistics. 

Revision

See general principles for revisions in Statistics Norway.