SWEDEN: Targeting fee-paying foreigners

Sweden is preparing to introduce tuition fees for non-European students next year, and is taking steps to identify and target countries to highlight its attraction as a study destination.

Last year Sweden registered a sharp increase in the number of foreign students, who represented a quarter of all new enrolments, according to the Swedish National Agency for Higher Education in its 2010 Universities and Colleges report.

Students from abroad numbered 24,000 or 12% more than in 2008 and accounted for 25% of new students in 2009. Half the arrivals came from Asia with the largest national groups from China, Pakistan, Iran, Bangladesh and India.

The agency revealed that applications from Swedes and foreigners combined for international masters programmes increased by 45% and for international courses at basic levels the number of applicants increased three-fold.

More than 3,400 new PhD students were accepted in 2009 of whom 30% were foreigners, the same level as previously. A large proportion started in technological fields of study.

Swedish universities incurred costs of SEK52 billion (US$8 billion) last year for an enrolment of 304,200 students but none were liable to pay tuition fees.

With introduction of fees in 2011 for students outside the European Union and the European Economic Area, the Swedish Institute is coordinating activities at Swedish institutions to prepare for the new applications system.

The institute commissioned a study to identify in which countries and geographical regions actions should be taken to highlight Sweden as a study destination, and which were the most internationally competitive higher education studies in Sweden. The focus is on masters degrees and attracting fee-paying students.