Fewer students go abroad

Photo: Frank May / NTB scanpix

Last year, 24,083 Norwegian students took all or part of their education abroad – 864 fewer than the previous year, according to recent figures from the Norwegian Loan Fund (Lånekassen).

“After seeing a steady increase in the number of Norwegian students abroad over several years, we now see a decline. For degree studies, it’s the fourth year the number has gone down, while for exchange studies it has been fairly stable until the last year,” says Administrative Director Nina Schanke Funnemark at Lånekassen.

15,941 students received support to take a full degree abroad, while the remaining 8,142 received support to take part of the education abroad, via their Norwegian educational institution.

“We encourage students to orient themselves broadly. There are many exciting countries to study in, and it is possible to get support to learn the language before starting on the education itself. An exchange stay as part of a Norwegian degree can be a good alternative to taking the entire degree abroad, says Funnemark.

The UK is the favourite
The UK tops the list as Norwegian students’ favourite. In the 2018–2019 academic year, a total of 4,059 students received support to take their entire education in the United Kingdom. However, the country is also where the proportion of Norwegian students has declined the most.

Denmark, USA, Poland and Hungary also attract many Norwegian students. Australia is the most popular country for exchange study. 1,184 students took the trip “down under” last year, which is more than the previous year.

The most popular study is medical studies. 3,097 students received support for a degree program in medicine last year. Subjects such as psychology, engineering, art and veterinary medicine are also high on the list.

© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today

RSS Feed