Norway second to last:

Losing foreign students to the competition

Norwegian higher education struggles to compete: Other Nordic countries attract far more international students.

Norwegian educational institutions are losing ground to their Nordic competition in the fight for international students. This is made clear by the OECD's annual «Education at a Glance» report. While Denmark, Sweden and Finland can boast of international student ratios varying from 3.4 to 4.6 in 2004, Norway strays close to the very bottom of the list with a mere 1.7 percent - barely ahead of Spain.

- Sweden and Denmark have become much better at thinking in commercial terms, and in general are better at reaching out to potential students, for example by offering far more courses taught in English, Lars Ove Breivik at The Norwegian Centre for International Cooperation in Higher Education (SIU) says.

In Breivik's opinion, Norway appeals to students with particular interests.

- Norway's not well known abroad, but has a good reputation with those who are familiar with our education system, Breivik says.

Still, Breivik stresses that Norway lags behind in several areas.

Different factors at play

The OECD statistics show that France, Germany, The United Kingdom and The United States attract more than half of all international students, while Nordic nations are left with mere crumbs. Kim Størksen, international officer of the Norwegian Union of Students (NSU), doesn't want to speculate too much as to why, but says that the low figures need to be viewed in the context of several different causal factors.

- Factors like cost, the amount of courses taught in English, and the status of the particular academic field all influence a student's choice of where he or she goes to study. To us it's particularly important that there is an active exchange of Norwegian students, as they serve as walking advertisements for Norway as a place to study, Størksen says.

In addition, Breivik in SIU says, it is important that more courses are adapted for English. According to the OECD report, the other Nordic nations have far better offers to English speaking students than Norway, even though between 180 and 190 full Norwegian masters' degrees are taught in English.

Not just numbers

Breivik emphatically points out that one does not want as many students as possible just for the sake of numbers.

- We don't want a bunch of international students at any cost. Norwegian universities and colleges receive enough applications as it is. What we want more than anything, are the top students, Breivik says.

Breivik's view is shared by Ricardo Duque, vice president of The International Students’ Union of Norway.

- Too often, Norwegian authorities confuse quality with quantity, due to a generally democratic attitude towards students. The quality of higher education is sacrificed in order to include more students in classes, thus educating more people, but fewer top people, Duque says.

Room for improvement

Several of the international students in Norway study humanities and the social sciences. However, Breivik believes Norway could improve in more specialised fields.

- A lot of students come here to study oil and gas; and peace studies attract a lot of international students, too. What we need, is to improve at developing special competence, Breivik says, at the same time pointing out that Norway still is seen as an exotic country of fjords, mountains and lusekofter - an image he feels would be beneficial to implement in the marketing of Norway as a place to study.

Duque disagrees, though.

- Norway keeps believing that mere fjords and mountains will attract international top students. Instead, advertise Norwegian universities as really dedicated institutions that will demand your blood, sweat and tears, but in return will give high prestige on graduation, Duque says.

The ministry of education and research were not available for comment Tuesday.

Kristin Storrusten • Thomas Karlsen • Robin Røkke Johansen (photo) • Translated by Michael Brøndbo

- Higher standards here

The majority of foreign students attending Norwegian higher education enroll at the same studies preferred by Norwegian students. In the case of the University of Oslo, this means that the vast majority end up at the Faculties of Arts and Humanities or Social sciences. Spanish Maria Amparo Sebastian (24) and Carolina Duart Garcia (21), represent the minority. Following recommendations from back home, they are attending the master's degree program in biology.

- We were told that the UiO has a very recognized molecular biology program, and so far, we've had nothing but positive experience. The study's demanding, and places a lot of weight on solitary reading. We learn a lot, and are well taken care of, Garcia says.

Both Garcia and Sebastian are former students at the University of Valencia, and are impressed by the standards at the UiO.

- The scientific equipment has a much better standard than back home. In Spain, science departments often receive lackluster funds both from the government and the university. Instead, the money goes to other faculties, Sebastian says. She's particularly pleased with the small size of the lab classes at the UiO, as well as the tight contact with teachers.