The figures from the Universities and Colleges Admissions (Samordnaopptak) show the total number of applicants to higher education reached to 103 631 this year. Last year the number was 104,238. It means an increase of approximately 10 percent compared to 2008.
84 515 of this year's applicants are qualified for at least one study. There is an increase of over 12 percent compared to last year. Within two years, the number of qualified applicants has increased by 16 550
– It's surprising that the proportion of qualified applicants has increased so sharply. It will have consequences on government budgets, says Research and Higher Education Minister Tora Aasland. She also emphasized that there are still many opportunities for those willing to study at an institution that is not in the big cities.
More will Become Teacher
Applicantion for the two new primary teacher education programs were accepted for the first time this year. The new programs offered 500 more places compared with the number of offers to the general education program last year, that means an increase of 18.3 percent.
On the other hand, there was a decline in application to the pre-school teacher education this year: 3113 priority applicantios were received this season, while the number of applications was 3691 last year. Nevertheless, the program accepted more students this year than last year : 3197 year to 3012 last year. Additionally, the number of overall study offer in education departments increased by about 1,000 this year compared with 2009.
Flow to Technical Programs
The increase in the number of qualified students was also seen in the technical studies. A total of 13,579 applicants have been offered for study at Medicine this year , compared to 12,579 last year. Eventhough the number of places in Technology and Science had remained steady over the past two years, 700 more students were offered to study in these two subjects, this year.
– This is gratifying , “said Minister Aasland. I am very pleased that we get more students on studies that provide expertise we need today and in the future.
She also suggested that the state must allocate funds for additional student places to meet the increased demand for higher education, while the capacity of higher education should be utilized and studying abroad options are to promoted.
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