Norwegian Universities Record High Number of Foreign Students

Universities in Norway’s Bergen and Stavanger experience a huge increase in students from abroad this academic year.

As the autumn higher education season kicks off this week, Bergen reports ten per cent more than last year, whilst almost one in ten are from abroad in Stavanger.

German students make up the highest proportion of foreign students in Bergen. Other nationalities listed include France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Australia, and Japan, reports Bergensavisen (BA).

“This means that the University of Bergen is recognised internationally and that it maintains a high standard,” Minister of Labour Anniken Huitfeldt said to BA. Roughly 800 are foreign students there, 4,000 Norwegian.

According to Stavanger Aftenbladet, French students top the figures, with 75 nations represented at the oil capital’s university. Here, the proportion of foreign students is approximately 900 of 9,200, total.

A breakdown of international student numbers at the University of Stavanger is as follows:

France: 32

China: 21

Poland: 21

Russia: 18

Spain: 16

Pakistan: 15

India: 14

Nigeria: 11

Germany: 11

Nepal: 10

Iran: 10

US: 9

Italy: 9

Romania: 8

Lithuania: 8

Indonesia: 8

Czech Republic: 7

UK: 7

Philippines: 6

Bangladesh: 6

Finland: 6

Brazil: 5

Canada: 5

Ethiopia: 4

Serbia: 4

Bulgaria: 4

Latvia: 4

Iceland: 3

Malaysia: 3

Sri Lanka: 3

Venezuela: 3

Denmark: 2

Sweden: 2

Azerbaijan: 2

Kazakhstan: 2

Turkey: 2

Egypt: 2

Vietnam: 2

Thailand: 2

Australia: 2

Belgium, Belarus, Austria, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Macedonia, Holland, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, Ukraine, Ecuador, Chile, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Cameroon, and South Korea: 1 student each. Students with foreign parents but who are Norwegian citizens: 3