The Swedish educational system has undergone a continuing series of transformations since the 1950s. A nine-year comprehensive compulsory school and an upper secondary school which integrates theoretical and vocational study programmes have gone into operation, and adult education has been expanded. Practically all post-secondary education, i.e. all university-type education as well as non-academic colleges for different kinds of professional education and training, was incorporated into a single system in 1977. Swedish post-secondary education contained a strong element of national planning and regulation; the aims and length as well as the location and financing of most study programmes were laid down by Parliament. Until 1989 the central government also established the curricula for all the general study programmes.
In 1991 a major reform was initiated, aiming at a deregulation of the higher education system,
greater autonomy for each institution of higher education and a wider scope of individual choice
for students. The reform was adopted by Parliament in 1992 and on July 1, 1993 a new Higher
Education Act came into effect. In the new system the sizes of different programmes and the
allocation of grants between institutions will be influenced by the demands of the students and
the achievements of each institution in terms of both quality and quantity. The organisation of
study and range of courses on offer are determined locally. Students have been given increased
freedom of choice regarding study courses within the framework of a new internationally valid
Degree Ordinance.
Slightly more than 30% of young people in Sweden go on to higher education within five years after completion of their upper secondary schooling. First-time enrollments every year total about 50,000.
In 1992/93, the number of students enrolled in undergraduate studies was about 240,000 (55% women) and for post-graduate studies about 16,000 (36% women), making a total of about 256,000 (full-time and part-time students).
Distance learning, mainly in the form of correspondence courses, has a long tradition in Sweden. Today most universities and other institutions of higher education offer varying amounts and types of studies on this basis. The courses are designed to meet the educational needs of both individuals and the country. They are planned in such a way as to enable people to pursue their studies unencumbered by place of residence, work or family situation. The emergence of new distance-bridging technologies such as the personal computers, fax machine, interactive video and picture telephone is creating new opportunites for distance learning and making it a high-priority development field.
As from July 1, 1993 the general entrance requirements are the completion of a three-year national programme of the upper secondary school or other equivalent Swedish or foreign education or the acquisition of the equivalent level of knowledge, e.g. through work experience. Applicants having a mother tongue other than one of the Nordic languages must possess the requisite knowledge of Swedish, acquired, for example, through a preparatory course in Swedish of one year's duration. A very good command of English is a requirement for all applicants.
Responsibility for the admission and selection of students rests with the universities and university colleges themselves. Within a generally formulated framework, they are able to decide what selection criteria shall be used for admission to their programmes or courses and whether the admissions procedure shall be carried out locally or by using the central service function provided by the National Agency for Higher Education (Verket för högskoleservice, VHS). The universities and university colleges decide the number of students admitted to different programmes.
For the selection of students one or more of the following criteria are applicable: school marks, results on the university aptitude test (which is common for all institutions of higher education) or a special admissions procedure (e.g. interviews), previous education which may be relevant to the higher education applied for, and work experience.
A further review of admissions regulations has been announced.
The goals for various courses of study are set out in the Degree Ordinance. All courses and study programmes also have to follow curricula, established by the individual university or university college.
There are two kinds of first degrees general degrees and professional ones. The professional degrees are awarded upon completion of studies of varying length leading to specific professions, e.g. University Diploma in Education for Upper Secondary School.
The general degrees are:
Teaching methods are decided by each institution of higher education, but instruction often takes the form of lectures to large groups (up to around 300 students) and seminars of about 30 students. The language of instruction is usually Swedish, but a great deal of the compulsory course literature is in English. Most institutions also offer certain courses in English.
Examination procedures are also decided by each university or university college. Marks are
generally given on a three-level scale: Fail, Pass and Pass with Distinction. Institutions may,
however, decide to use other types of scales.
After completion of studies, the student receives a diploma. The diploma indicates the name of
the degree earned and the type of courses included.
A graduate student should take a number of courses and also write a doctoral dissertation. It should normally be possible to complete one's post-graduate studies within four years of studying full-time. Each student is entitled to individual supervision. The dissertation, which is the most important part of a post-graduate programme, is defended in public and receives either a Pass or Fail mark. It may be published either as a monograph or a so-called composite dissertation, consisting of a number of articles or research papers, and a summary. If a graduate student passes the necessary courses and the dissertation is accepted, he or she receives a doctor's degree. Most of the faculties have reintroduced a licentiate degree. This is a degree based on a shorter period of research training (normally between 2 and 2 ½ years), which can be supplemented at a later date in order to earn a doctorate. The licentiate dissertation is defended in a seminar.
The academic staff are grouped into the following main categories: professors, senior lecturers (högskolelektorer), lecturers (högskoleadjunkter) and research assistants. Since 1986 duties of different kinds teaching, research, personal study, educational counselling and administration have been included in the same appointment. Professors have some teaching commitments but are mainly engaged in research and post-graduate supervision. To qualify for a position as a senior lecturer a person must have a doctorate and be active in both research and teaching. For a post as lecturer no doctorate is required. Teaching proficiency displayed in undergraduate teaching is also a criterion for professorial appointment. Especially deserving senior lecturers can be promoted to the rank of assistant professor.
Appropriations are based on proposals from the Government and disbursed as lump sums directly from Parliament to each institution. Research and post-graduate education are financed separately from undergraduate education. Appropriations for premises, furniture and equipment are included in the lump sums as from the academic year 1994/95.
The basic principle of the allocation system is that appropriations are made as a remuneration for results achieved. About 60% of the government grant is related to the number of credit points earned by students and about 40% to the number of full-time equivalent students taught at the institution. Parliament has decided that in the future approximately 5% of the total appropriations can be earned as a quality premium.
The allocation of the quality premium will take place after the Office of the University
Chancellor (Kanslersämbetet) has conducted an evaluation of the quality enhancement
programme of each institution of higher education and how this has been implemented during
each three-year period. According to Parliament's decision, this procedure will not have financial
consequences until 1997. The Chancellor's Office, which was established in July 1993, will
consult with groups of experts as part of this process. Aside from monitoring and promoting
quality in the higher education system, the Office of the University Chancellor is entrusted with
summarizing and publishing the results of the evaluations it has completed, as well as following
up the measures institutions have undertaken in response to these results. Another important
task of the Chancellor's Office is to ensure that universities and other institutions of higher
education fulfil the conditions entitling them to grant degrees at various levels.
For the purpose of resource allocation, courses have been arranged into twelve fields of study.
In principle, the fields of study compare with the traditional academic faculties. Additional fields
of study are those of education, nursing, fine arts and miscellaneous. For each field of study, or group of fields of study, per capita remunerations (that is, fixed student voucher remuneration amounts and performance-based remuneration) are given that will be applied for full-time equivalent students and full-time equivalent credit points earned. These per capita remunerations are the same for all universities and university colleges. As from the fiscal year 1995/96 the field of study known as fine arts, which now is treated differently, will be part of the same system. The field of fine arts will be divided into eight different fields, each with its own per capita remunerations.
The total amount of money that as a maximum could be allocated to a university or university college is based on an education task contract for a three-year period. The task contract is a result of a dialogue between the Ministry of Education and Science and each university or university college.
Since 1977, Swedish higher education has had a numerus clausus or admissions ceiling. Since the beginning of the academic year 1993/94, institutions set their own student numbers and admittance requirements. Their funding is restricted to match a foreseen number of students, but institutions are free to accept more students than the number financed, provided they can guarantee quality. They are also allowed to combine varying numbers of students and different kinds of subject courses. Education is free of charge; no tuition fees are levied on the students.
The central government appropriations for universities and university colleges total SEK 12,890 million for the fiscal year 1994/95. Of these, 7,911 million are earmarked for undergraduate education and 4,979 million for research and post-graduate education.
Seven of these central government-operated higher education institutions are universities Uppsala, Lund, Göteborg, Stockholm, Umeå, Linköping, and the University of Agricultural Sciences and four are specialized institutions of higher education and research the Karolinska Institute (medicine), the Royal Institute of Technology, Luleå University College and Institute of Technology, and Stockholm Institute of Education.
From Luleå in the north to Lund/Malmö in the south there are about 20 small and medium-sized university colleges. Seven smaller colleges for various areas of the arts are located in Stockholm. The University College of Physical Education and Sports is also located there. The higher education programmes available on the Baltic island of Gotland have a special organisational structure.
There are also, under the auspices of the county councils, about 30 colleges of health sciences, offering programmes which provide preparation for work in the paramedical professions.
There has so far only been one major private institution within the system of higher education, the Stockholm School of Economics, run by a private foundation with central government support. As from July 1, 1994 Chalmers University of Technology and the University College of Jönköping have been transferred to non-state ownership in the form of foundations.
The highest body in each higher education institution is the governing board (senate or council), which has the overall responsibility for all operations within the institution, e.g. financial administration and planning, personnel matters and the like. The majority of the members of the board and the rector (or president) are appointed by the Government for a three-year or six-year term.
The Government has established the following guidelines in deciding the structure of various decision-making bodies within the universities and university colleges: Representatives of teachers and students in various decision-making bodies are elected to their posts, while people with management responsibilities, e.g. the deans, are appointed by the rector. Teachers should be in the majority in all decision-making bodies below board level, and students have the right to be represented in all decision-making bodies dealing with educational matters.
Study assistance consists of a non-repayable grant plus a larger repayable loan. The non- repayable grant is about 30% of the total amount and, like the loan portion, is inflation-indexed. The grant portion currently totals SEK 17,100 for a nine-month academic year and the repayable loan portion SEK 44,600. A rate of interest equalling 70 per cent of the State deposit rate is charged on the loan portion. Repayment of the study loan begins not less than six months after the final receipt of study assistance. Instalments are income related, the rule being repayment at a rate of 4% of annual income. The rate of interest is fixed by the Government for one year at a time. Interest payments are not tax-deductible. Student loans are written off at death and at age 65.
The Government has announced that the current system of post-secondary study assistance will be revised and changed in the near future.
Swedish students enrolled at universities and colleges abroad may bring their study assistance privileges with them. About 13,000 students took advantage of this opportunity during the 1992/93 academic year. Of these, 1,100 studied at European universities and colleges through ERASMUS, the EG student exchange programme, and 650 studied in one of the other Nordic countries through the NORDPLUS exchange programme.
Post-graduate studies are financed out of the research appropriation to which each university faculty is entitled. The faculty board can decide to spend the money either on posts (assistantships) for post-graduate studies or on fellowships, both running for four years. A fellowship can also be divided between two graduate students. A student who has succeeded in obtaining a post must concentrate on his or her research studies but can to some extent combine it with teaching or other types of work. The fellowship-holder may combine studies with a job on a research project or a part-time job as a teaching or administrative assistant.
Another, comparatively common way to finance post-graduate studies is to combine one's studies with a job on a research project funded by one of the national research councils or some other outside body.
Most of the local student unions are members of the National Association of Student Unions, which thus indirectly encompasses about 150,000 students.
Health and medical care services for students in central government-operated higher education are administered by the local university or university college. In places where there is a special student health centre, there are doctors and other paid staff. The student health centres are primarily concerned with preventive health care. They are not intended to replace the ordinary medical service that every citizen is entitled to. Rather, the student health centres are intended to complement this service in the special higher education environment.
It is the duty of higher education institutions to make any necessary modifications for the benefit of disabled students and to bear the expense involved (up to 0.15% of the university/university colleges appropriation for undergraduate studies), in so far as funding is not available from any other authority. At Stockholm University there is a national coordinating unit for disabled students from which government funds (SEK 8.9 million for 1994/95) are distributed to universities and university colleges which have had significant costs in this respect.
| Field of study | Post-graduate studies | Undergraduate studies | Distance learning | |
| Math/Natural sciences | 15 | 5 | 10 | |
| Technology | 26 | 19 | 4 | |
| Social sciences/Law | 16 | 29 | 35 | |
| Humanities/Theology | 15 | 14 | 24 | |
| Fine arts | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Medicine/Caring professions | 24 | 14 | 11 | |
| Teaching | 3 | 16 | 12 | |
| Miscellaneous | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| % | 100 | 100 | 100 | |
| Total number | 16,000 | 230,000 | 10,000 | |
This fact sheet is part of SI´s information service. It can be used as background information on condition that the source is acknowledged.
Printed in Sweden
November 1994
Classification: FS 83 j Ep
ISRN SI-FS--94/83-J--SE
ISSN 1101-6124
Fact Sheets on Sweden