Students

The data source for the information you find on this page is, in most cases, the data reported by UiB to the Database for Statistics on Higher Education (DBH). Institutions are required to report data on educational activities within specified deadlines, and the database publishes comparable data for universities and colleges, often spanning 20-30 years

The overviews will be primarily updated 1-2 times per year, in connection with the reporting deadlines.

Last updated on February 15, 2024.

The number of regular study programs varies from year to year but has, in recent years, been around 200. These programs are primarily divided into undergraduate programs, which build upon education at the secondary school level, and two-year master's programs that require completion of an undergraduate (bachelor's) degree. For undergraduate programs, most students are admitted through the nationally coordinated admission process (Samordna opptak). Admission to master's programs is done through local admissions at each institution.

The selection here includes regular study programs with a duration of at least one year and where students have been admitted in the past year. This excludes shorter courses and continuing education programs.

Since most students are admitted for the fall semester, the student population is typically somewhat higher in the fall than in the spring. Approximately every third student is enrolled in a bachelor's program, while about the same proportion are either pursuing a two-year or five-year master's program. Another significant group includes students following shorter study paths. This category mainly consists of students in continuing and further education programs, incoming exchange students, individual course students, and other groups engaged in a specific course of limited duration.

For detailed data, please refer to the Database for Statistics on Higher Education (DBH): Statistikk 3.3 Registrerte studenter

The overview shows the number of students registered at UiB in the fall semester with foreign citizenship. This includes individuals who reside in Norway and have all or part of their educational background from Norway.

For detailed data, please refer to the Database for Statistics on Higher Education (DBH): Statistikk 3.7 Utenlandske studenter 

Another way to count international students is to look at the number of incoming exchange students. The overview shows the number of students on exchange who completed their stay during the year. After a natural decline during the pandemic, the number of incoming students was higher than ever in 2023. 80 percent of those who come for an exchange stay do so as part of the Erasmus+ program.

For detailed data, please refer to the Database for Statistics on Higher Education (DBH): Statistikk 17.1 Utvekslingsopphold 

In the fall of 2023, the government introduced a requirement for tuition fees for citizens from countries outside the EU/EEA and Switzerland, known as third countries. Students who can provide evidence of their eligibility for educational support through Lånekassen (the Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund) or are covered by institutional exchange agreements are exempt from the tuition fee requirement. The same applies to doctoral candidates and foreign citizens who, according to international agreements, have the right to equal treatment with Norwegian citizens.

The government's requirement for tuition fees to cover all costs associated with providing education means that a year of studies in a master's program costs between 200,000 to 400,000 Norwegian kroner.

If we only consider citizenship, around 8-900 students at UiB are citizens of country outseide EU/EEA/Switzerland.For detailed data, please refer to the Database for Statistics on Higher Education (DBH): Antall tredjelandsstudenter ved UiB (2021-2023) This includes students admitted to full study programs, as well as students on shorter courses such as exchange programs, continuing education, and Norwegian language courses. Many of these students are exempt from the tuition fee requirement either because they have a residence permit in Norway or come as part of an institutional agreement.

At UiB, it is primarily master's degree students who are subject to the tuition fee requirement, and in the fall of 2023, a total of 14 students paid this fee and started a master's program. The tuituin fees are 

For detailed data, please refer to the Database for Statistics on Higher Education (DBH): Statistikk 3.12 Studenter som betaler full studieavgift

In addition, 22 students were exempt from the fee, mainly because they came through programs that grant exemptions (NORPART and Students at Risk), resulting in a total of 36 new third-country students starting a master's program at UiB. Since there was no previous requirement for self-payment, it is not possible to provide a definitive answer on how many would have been affected by a tuition fee. However, UiB admitted 110 master's students from third countries in the fall of 2022 and 97 students in 2021.

The student population at UiB has grown since 2015, and each student earns more study credits each year. At the same time, there was an increase in completion rates during the pandemic. Overall, this has resulted in a steady increase in the number of students completing a degree.

For detailed data, please refer to the Database for Statistics on Higher Education (DBH): Statistikk 7.1 Fullført vitnemålsgivende studieprogram (uteksaminerte)

In 2023, 215 doctoral disputations were held at UiB, and there were around 1500 active doctoral candidates. Most of them are funded through UiB's own budget, primarily through recruitment positions financed by the Ministry of Education. However, there is also a significant portion funded by external entities such as research foundations, organizations, companies, and healthcare enterprises.

For detailed data, please refer to the Database for Statistics on Higher Education (DBH): Statistikk 9.1 Avlagte doktorgrader

The production of study credits is measured in units of 60 credits, equivalent to one year of full-time studies. Since some students take shorter courses and subjects or, for various reasons, do not complete subjects equivalent to this every year, the total sum of annual units will be lower than the number of registered students.

That study credits are self-financed means that students are financed through the national budget, and UiB receives performance-based funding when these credits are completed as part of the funding from the Ministry of Education. For 2023, UiB receives approximately 38,000 - 150,000 Norwegian kroner per completed annual unit, depending on the study program in which the credits are earned.

For detailed data, please refer to the Database for Statistics on Higher Education (DBH): Statistikk 5.2 Studiepoengproduksjon fordelt på programmet som emnet tilhører

Completion and dropout rates in studies are closely intertwined. Among a cohort that starts an education, some will drop out during the course of their studies, while others will successfully complete the program. Among those who drop out, some may transition to another study program and finish that. Among those who complete, some may do so within the standard time frame, while others may take an extra semester or more.

To measure dropout rates, it is crucial to determine the endpoint and the level at which we are measuring. For example, in the fall of 2020, 3050 students started a three-year bachelor's program at UiB.

(Source: Statistikk 6.1 Gjennomføring på samme institusjon (styringsparameter).

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DBH/Gjennomføring på samme institusjon

Of these, 1350 had completed a bachelor's program at UiB within six semesters (44.2 percent). In this case, the endpoint is after six semesters (spring 2023), and the level measured is the study level (three-year bachelor's). For students who started in 2020, they may have switched study programs, but as long as they completed a program at the same study level at UiB within three years, they are considered to have completed within the standard time. This is the measurement method that the Ministry of Education used in the national governance parameters.

At the same endpoint (spring 2023), 29.6 percent of students had dropped out from the bachelor's level at UiB. This doesn't mean they have stopped studying; rather, they were not active in a bachelor's program at UiB during this semester. They may have switched both the study level (e.g., to a five-year integrated master's program) or the study location (to another university or college). Finally, 26.2 percent were still actively enrolled in a bachelor's program at UiB without having completed the study.

Regarding dropout rates, this often occurs early in the program, primarily during the first academic year. The figure below illustrates the percentage of dropout for bachelor cohorts from 2019 to 2023, measured from semester to semester.

Photo:

STAR/Sikt

Here, we can see that at the beginning of the second semester (spring semester after admission), around ten percent of students have dropped out of the program. After the first academic year (semester 3), this percentage has increased to 30 percent before leveling off somewhat. Note that in this context, it is considered dropout if a student changes the study program, even if it is to another bachelor's program at UiB. For the most recent cohorts, we observe that dropout rates early in the program have decreased compared to earlier cohorts.