The Scandinavian country of Norway invites you to study in an incredible setting with amazing natural resources around the corner. Experience the mountain coastline with its world famous fjords or the midnight sun that never sets during the light summer months. Norway combines the great advantage of high quality educations with unique and exotic nature attractions. Students can enjoy the city life of Oslo, the capital, one day and find themselves in a peaceful and quaint fishermen’s village the next day.
With a population of 4.6 million, Norway is a rather small country. Still, if you choose to study in Norway, you can experience some of the world's greatest nature attractions. One example is the world famous fjords, valleys formed by glaciers and filled with the sea to form a steep-walled inlet. You will find two of the world's three longest fjords in Norway. The fjords are very popular for fishing, canoe trips, rafting, riding, summer skiing and fjord cruises. In one of the fjords, Lysefjord, you can find the landmark "Pulpit Rock" (Preikestolen), a 604-metre high mountain cliff. The top of the cliff is 25 square meters and almost flat, and when you arrive you have a fantastic view of the Lysefjord and the surrounding mountains.
There are cities and villages all along the beaches, fjords, mountaintops and islands of the Norwegian coast. In the many fishing villages you can get a real taste of the countries culture and attempt sea fishing yourself, for both relaxation and excitement. Eagle and whale safaris bring you closer to the local wildlife and in the winter you can even swim with killer whales.
The Nobel Prize of peace is awarded in Norway every year, and the country has a long history of acting as a peace negotiator. Norway is today one of the riches and safest communities in the world, but Norway is also the country which gives the highest proportion of its gross national product in aid.
Oslo, the capital city of Norway, is placed in the beautiful setting of the Oslofjord and surrounded by forests and beaches. But Oslo is also a cultural hotspot with for example the new Opera House and many art galleries. You can for example see the famous Edward munch painting "the Scream" at the Munch Museum.
Language
Norwegian is a North Germanic language of the West Scandinavian branch, existing in the two norms – Bokmål (Dano-Norwegian) and Nynorsk (New Norwegian). Although the official language of Norway is Norwegian, the people are generally very good English speakers, and most University institutions offer courses in English.
Currency
Norway uses Norwegian crowns (krone, NOK) as currecy.
€ 1 = 8,39 NOK
$ 1 = 5,95 NOK
(rates collected 2008-09-16)
Higher education institutions
In Norway, higher education is offered at three different types of institutions:
1. Universities: Any college offering at least five master programs and four doctoral programs can title themselves a university.
2. University Colleges: are responsible for regional education of primarily bachelor level education within the fields of nursing, teaching, business management, engineering and information technology, though most colleges also offer a number of other educations as well.
3. Private University Colleges: The private institutions offer primarily programs and courses within popular fields of study where the number of public places is limited or offering accelerated courses.
The Bologna System
The Norwegian system of Education is regulated by the Bologna declaration. The Bologna process was initiated in 1999 when the Ministers of Education from 29 European countries signed the Bologna declaration in the Italian city of Bologna. The purpose of the process is to create educational standards for academic degrees and quality assurance, in order to make it easier for students to move from one European country to another and to improve the overall quality of European higher education. The system also incorporates aspects of the American higher education system and thus simplifies comparison. The Bologna System uses the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) to measure the amount of higher education credits.
The Bologna system, and thus the higher education system of Norway, follows the Bachelor/Master system:
Bachelor's degree
3 years (180 ECTS credits) towards a professional bachelor or an academic bachelor. Offers students core teaching in the chosen discipline, as well as a broad general education. The academic bachelor gives access to master's studies.
Master's degree
1 or 2 years (60 or 120 ECTS credits). Provides specialized content whilst allowing for further development of the scientific research process.
After obtaining a Master's degree, students can choose to pursue research projects leading to a Doctorate degree (PhD). PhD's are only awarded by Universities.
The Bologna System also uses the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) to measure higher education credits.
Admission
Admittance to higher education in Norway generally requires a certificate for having completed a three year upper secondary education.
Prospective students apply for Bachelor programs through the Norwegian Universities and Colleges Admission Service. Students are admitted in accordance to their amount of points, where points are depending on secondary school grades. Extra points can be given for certain specialization during upper secondary school, age and fulfilled one year of higher education, military service and folk high school.
Cost
There are no tuition fees for public higher education in Norway. The costs are covered by the Ministry of Education and Research. A small fee must be paid to the student welfare organization every semester.
Although there are no tuition fees, students must budget for living expenses. You will need a minimum of approximately NOK 8 000 per month in order to cover basic expenses.
Visa
Visas are issued for stays up to 90 days. All students who plan to stay in Norway for more than three months will need a student residence permit. Students from countries in the EU/EEA/EFTA can apply for their student residence permit at The Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI).
Students from countries outside the EU/EEA/EFTA should submit their applications to a Norwegian Foreign Mission. The application must be submitted in person. A student residence permit to Norway is granted under the precondition that the student will return to his/her country of legal permanent residence upon completion of the studies.
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More information
General: http://www.studyinnorway.no/
Student Residence Permit (EU): http://www.udi.no/templates/Tema.aspx?id=7416
Student Residence Permit (outside of EU): http://www.norway.info/
