Sweden is a Scandinavian country located in Northern Europe. It is the fifth largest in Europe. Swedish is the official language. The population exceeds 10 mil. and is concentrated around the capital Stockholm and the big cities of Malmo, Gothenburg, and Uppsala.
Sweden’s market economy is modern and highly industrialized, with a well-developed energy sector based mostly on hydro power plants, relying on a flawless transport and communication infrastructure, and a sufficient number of well-trained specialists.
Industry focuses on the manufacturing of high tech – equipment for power stations, factories, machinery, cars, aerospace equipment, aircraft, medicines, and telecommunications equipment, and chemical and paper as well. The Volvo automobiles, which are famous as the safest cars, are doubtlessly Sweden’s symbol. Sweden is also notable for its transport infrastructure (250 airports in total).
The tertiary education system in Sweden consists of universities and högskola (in other words – small tertiary schools similar to colleges). Like colleges in other European countries, högskola are not entitled to award doctoral degrees, except for cases determined by the government. In turn, universities may award Bachelor’s, Master’s, and doctoral degrees. It is important to note that some older technical universities also use the Swedish word högskola, but these are only exceptions, like the Royal Institute of Technology, which is called ”Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan“ in Swedish or Chalmers University of Technology –”Chalmers Tekniska Högskola“ in Swedish.
Bachelor’s programs: 3 yrs.
Master’s programs: 1-2 yrs.
You do not need to know Swedish in order to study in Sweden, as over 600 specialties are taught in English. A Bachelor’s degree is awarded after 3 years, with Master’s degree taking up 1 or 2 years, depending on the program. Training in Sweden is more or less placed in the hands of the very students. Even though it involves classes as well, the students spend most of the team working on projects, at laboratories, or in group or individual work. Most exams take place in the form of projects or course papers, which are sent from home via the student online portal.
According to 2016 data, over 17 000 international students started their education in Sweden. At least 50% thereof are students coming under one-year or two-year exchange programs. Most international students hail from European countries, such as Germany, Finland, and France. Therefore, the total share of student paying tuition is lower, as European students are exempt from tuition. Just 2 740 out of the total number of students paid tuition. Most of those are Asian students (60%), primarily from China and India. What impresses is that more female international students are admitted in Sweden (circa 53%) than men (47%).
The most preferred specialties in Sweden are:
– Pedagogy
– BSc in Nursing
– Engineering specialties
– Law
– Medicine
– Business sciences and Economy
Sweden has 11 universities, which make the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, the highest position being held by Karolinska Institute, ranked 38th.
Other esteemed Swedish tertiary schools are:
