Higher Education in Denmark

Study Abroad Denmark. Higher education comprises a university sector and a college sector, I.e. the professionally-oriented higher education sector. The university sector includes 11 universities, 5 of which are multi-faculty universities. The other 6 are specialized in Engineering, Education, Veterinary Medicine, Agriculture, Pharmacy or Business Studies. The university sector offers courses at three levels: Bachelor's Degree (normally 3 years of study), the Candidatus Degree (i.e. Master's Degree, normally 2  years following upon the Bachelor's Degree) and the Ph.D. Degree (normally 3 years' study after the Candidatus Degree). The universities also award the traditional higher Doctoral Degree (dr. phil., dr. scient etc) after a minimum of 5-8 years' individual and original research. Study programmes of the university sector are research-based. The college sector comprises  more than 150 specialized institutions  of higher education  offering professionally-oriented programmes, either short-cycle (2 years) or medium-cycle (3 to 4 years). Colleges offering medium-cycle higher education have started merging into more comprehensive Centres for Higher Education (Centre for Videregående Uddannelse (CVU)). Vocational colleges have formed Vocational Academies (Erhvervsakademier) as a framework for regional cooperation. The Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation is responsible for university education except for certain higher education programmes which come under the Ministry of Cultural Affairs (e.g. Architecture, Music, Fine Arts, and Librarianship). The Ministry of Education is responsible for short- and medium-cycle education. The legislation covers the aims and framework of education, funding and in some cases curricula, examinations and staffing. Higher education institutions are publicly financed and State-regulated. The quality of higher education Is ensured by ministerial approval of new programmes and institutions, external examiners and an evaluation system. Although they have institutional autonomy, institutions must follow general regulations concerning teacher qualifications, award structures, study programmes and quality assurance. While private institutions can operate without any approval, they must abide by an accreditation procedure to make their students eligible for state study grants.

Languages of instruction: Danish, English