page_title: Education in Norway
section_title: Higher education
hierarchical_section_title: Education in Norway / Higher education
caption_attribution_description: English: The main building of NTNU in Trondheim Deutsch: Hauptgebäude der NTNU Trondheim
context_page_description: Education in Norway is mandatory for all children aged 6–16.
  The school year in Norway runs from mid August to late June the following year. The Christmas holiday from mid December to early January historically divides the Norwegian school year into two terms. Presently, the second term begins in the beginning of January.
context_section_description: Higher education is anything beyond upper secondary school, and normally lasts 3 years or more. To be accepted to most higher education schools you must have attained a general university admissions certificate (generell studiekompetanse). This can be achieved by taking general studies while in upper secondary school or through the law of 23/5 where a person must be above 23 years of age, have 5 years of combined schooling and work experience and have passed exams in Norwegian, mathematics, natural sciences, English and social studies. Some degrees also require special electives in second and third grade (e.g. maths and physics for engineering studies.)
  Where there are more applicants than students admitted, applicants are ranked based on their grades from upper secondary school. To gain access to studies commonly requiring a high GPA, like medicine, law and engineering, many students re-sit their upper secondary school examinations to improve their grades.
  Higher education is broadly divided into:
  Universities, which concentrate on theoretical subjects (arts, humanities, natural science), Supply bachelor (3 yrs), master (5 yrs) and PhD (8 yrs) titles. Universities also run a number of professional studies, including law, medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and psychology, but these are generally separate departments that have little to do with the rest of the university institution.
  University colleges (høgskole), which supply a wide range of educational choices, including university degrees at bachelor, master and PhD levels, engineering degrees and professional vocations like teacher and nurse. The grade system is the same as it is for universities.
  Private schools, which tend to specialize in popular subjects with limited capacity in public schools, such as business management, marketing or fine arts. Private schools do not loom large on the horizon, although the fraction of students attending private schools is 10% in higher education, compared to 4% in secondary and 1.5% in primary education.
  There are no formal distinction between vocational and non-vocational higher education.
caption: The main building of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim.
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