Increased enrollment in most institutions

Preliminary figures show an increase in the number of students at Norwegian universities and colleges from about 214,200 in 2008 to 221,600 in 2009; the highest growth rate since 2002 and an increase of 3.3 percent from the previous year. Women and men have reached an equal number of gains in enrollment.

More students at university colleges

The biggest gain was found in public universities, where more than 90,800 were enrolled in 2009; up 6.7 percent from the previous year. Some of the growth in public university enrollments was due to the completion of the merging process between the University of Tromsø and University College of Tromsø as of Jan. 1, 2009, and consequently the addition of the University College of Tromsø to the public university sector. A total of 2,400 students were registered in the University College of Tromsø in 2008. The increase of more than 1,100 students in public university colleges in 2009 represented about 15 percent of the total growth. Female and male students reached the same rate of growth in 2009 compared with a much faster rate to the benefit of women in 2008.

Largest increase among students aged 19-24

The largest growth in the number of students in 2009 occurred within the 19-24 age group. The student population in this age group rose by 6.3 percent – or by almost 7,000- compared with 2008. Enrollments in tertiary education among 25-29-year-olds have also risen substantially, and accounted for 19.7 percent of the total of students; a proportion that remained stable compared with the last two years. Two factors may explain the substantial student increase in these groups. First, there were more people aged 19-24 and 25-29 in 2009, up 12,500 and 4,000 respectively in relation to 2008. Second, a higher unemployment rate among young people could have had a positive impact on enrollment.

Source: Statistics Norway