Higher education in Norway

Introduction to the educational system

The Norwegian educational system includes all education programmes at universities and university colleges, and entry normally requires successful prior completion of the three-year upper secondary school programme. With the exception of some private university colleges, all higher education institutions are state-run. As a rule, there are no tuition fees for higher education in Norway, but fees may be charged for certain professional education programmes and special programmes, and by some of the private institutions.

In addition to teaching, all higher education institutions, and especially universities, have a particular responsibility to conduct pure research and researcher training, by means of graduate-level studies and doctoral degree programmes.

Higher education institutions
The state university college system was expanded as part of decentralisation efforts, and with the intention of easing access to higher education. The 25 university colleges offer many vocational education programmes not provided by the universities. These programmes normally have a duration of two to four years. Many university colleges also offer courses at Master and PhD level. It is not unusual for students to combine courses from both universities and university colleges.

Credits and grading scale
Courses at universities and university colleges are assessed on a scale of study credits, in accordance with the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) standard. A full-time academic year equals 60 ECTS credits. Both undergraduate and graduate students are given grades on a scale ranging from A (best) to F (fail), where E is the lowest passing grade. Some exams, however, are simply marked Pass or Fail.

Source: http://www.norway.org

Universities