Norwegian Universities and Colleges Admission Service
Encyclopedia
The Norwegian Universities and Colleges Admission Service is a Norwegian
government agency
responsible for application and admission to all public universities
and university college
s in Norway for entry level degrees, either Bachelor degrees for liberal studies and some professional studies, as well as certain Master level programs in professional studies. The agency is subordinate the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research
and is managed by the University of Oslo
.
To solve this problem, the Government initiated a program to effectivise the application and admission system. Until 1994 the system merely collected information from the institutions, but from 1995 for the colleges and 1997 for the universities the admission rankings were centralized through the system so each applicant only got one admission place. From 1999 application via the Internet was possible, and from 2008 only online application is possible. After 2000 the grades from the upper secondary schools is automatically transferred to the system.
The applicants is ranked on a point scheme, where the qualified candidates with the most points are given admission. The qualifications vary from program to program, but almost all require general university admissions certification. Some programs, like engineering or medicine require extra upper secondary level courses in mathematics
and sciences, which can be attained through a foundation course in engineering. The points are based first on the average grade from upper secondary school, multiplied by ten. Additional points are awarded for sciences, age, specialization and completed 60 ECTS
credits or military service
. Quota points for gender are applicable for some programs.
The institution who owns the top prioritized program on each application is defined as the case handler for that application. The case handler sets the correct points values and (dis)qualification codes. Often helped by the national database for upper secondary school diplomas, also run by Samordna opptak. Each applicant has in average 1.1 case handlers compared to one per institution before 1995.
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
government agency
Etat
Etat is a Norwegian state-, county- or municipal agency. An Etat is a subdivision of the administration, which has been given responsibility for a special area. An agency does not have a board of directors, but it does have a director, appointed by the subordinate organization. Normally decisions...
responsible for application and admission to all public universities
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
and university college
University college
The term "university college" is used in a number of countries to denote college institutions that provide tertiary education but do not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university...
s in Norway for entry level degrees, either Bachelor degrees for liberal studies and some professional studies, as well as certain Master level programs in professional studies. The agency is subordinate the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research
Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research
Royal Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research is a Norwegian responsible for education, research and kindergartens. The ministry was established in 1814, and since October 18, 2007 led by Tora Aasland and Kristin Halvorsen in 2009. The department reports to the legislature...
and is managed by the University of Oslo
University of Oslo
The University of Oslo , formerly The Royal Frederick University , is the oldest and largest university in Norway, situated in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. The university was founded in 1811 and was modelled after the recently established University of Berlin...
.
History
Traditionally Norwegian universities and colleges had a system of local admission control. This system was tedious since each person had to apply to each institution and it was difficult to manage declines from students who were accepted to other institutions. Particularly in 1990 there was a massive increase in the application to higher educations and this resulted in an immense workload on the local administrators.To solve this problem, the Government initiated a program to effectivise the application and admission system. Until 1994 the system merely collected information from the institutions, but from 1995 for the colleges and 1997 for the universities the admission rankings were centralized through the system so each applicant only got one admission place. From 1999 application via the Internet was possible, and from 2008 only online application is possible. After 2000 the grades from the upper secondary schools is automatically transferred to the system.
How it works
The system opens on February 1 each year, with application deadline April 15. Some special groups have application deadline March 1. On the application up to ten prioritized programs can be specified. The order of their programs can be altered up to July 1, but no new program can be added after April 15. On July 20 the main admission is run and made known to the applicants, and noone is given more than one admission; on the highest ranked program that the candidate is qualified for and has enough points for after a specialized stable marriage algorithm. Programs with more applicants get waiting lists. Later in the summer and during the fall more people are admitted from the lists if enough people from the main admission decline the places. Studies with insufficient applicants to fill up become part of the Remains Market (Restetorget), which offers first-to-grab principle after the main application. Only entry-level programs are run through the system. Admission from bachelor to master level programs is still handled locally.The applicants is ranked on a point scheme, where the qualified candidates with the most points are given admission. The qualifications vary from program to program, but almost all require general university admissions certification. Some programs, like engineering or medicine require extra upper secondary level courses in mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
and sciences, which can be attained through a foundation course in engineering. The points are based first on the average grade from upper secondary school, multiplied by ten. Additional points are awarded for sciences, age, specialization and completed 60 ECTS
European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System
This page describes ECTS-credits. For information about the ECTS grading system go to ECTS grading scale.European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System is a standard for comparing the study attainment and performance of students of higher education across the European Union and other...
credits or military service
Military service
Military service, in its simplest sense, is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, whether as a chosen job or as a result of an involuntary draft . Some nations require a specific amount of military service from every citizen...
. Quota points for gender are applicable for some programs.
The institution who owns the top prioritized program on each application is defined as the case handler for that application. The case handler sets the correct points values and (dis)qualification codes. Often helped by the national database for upper secondary school diplomas, also run by Samordna opptak. Each applicant has in average 1.1 case handlers compared to one per institution before 1995.