The Norwegian system of the higher education comprises all the institutions and/or programmes that are accredited. With the exception of some private university colleges, all higher educational institutions are state-run. In general, tuition is the not required for study at Norwegian higher education institutions, although fees may be imposed for a certain professional education programme, further and special education programmes and studies at private institutions.

In addition to their teaching activities, all the higher learning institutions, and the particularly the universities, are responsible for conducting basic research as well as researcher training, primarily by means of graduate-level studies and doctoral degree programmes.

Student mobility and international cooperation are key objectives for a Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research. Currently, over 12,000 foreign students are studying in the Norway and we look forward to welcoming many more.

Norway is one of the leading countries conforming to the guidelines from the Bologna Process in European higher education. The degree system is based on the Bachelor’s, Masters and Ph.D. structure has been successfully implemented, together with the ECTS credits system. By adapting to the European standard in higher education it is easy for students at Norwegian institutions to obtain recognitions of their qualifications in other countries.

The internationalisation of higher educations has been a key factor for the development of programmes where the language of instruction is English in Norway. For the school year 2007/2008 more than 200 Masters programmes taught by English are available to students, covering a variety of subject areas. Some of the institutions are also offering English-taught programmes at the Bachelor’s level.

Norway has 22 accredited university colleges, two accredited nationals’ colleges of the arts, seven accredited universities, nine accredited specialized university institutions, 22 accredited university colleges, and numerous private institutions of higher learning that have either institutional or programmed accreditation.