Throughput of students in tertiary education
04.02.40 - Universities and colleges
Annual
Statistics are provided at the national level.
360 - Division for Education Statistics
Sections 2-2 and 2-3 and the Ministry of Finance's delegation letter from 13. February 1990.
Data is provided pursuant to EU Community 1921/99, 1925/99, 557/98, and 3711/91.
This data is not delivered to international organisations.
There is a high demand for the collection of official statistics on education. Official education statistics are individually based and document the educational activities of all Norwegian residents from completion of lower secondary school to completion of all tertiary education including doctoral studies.
Norwegian statistics on education went through a structural reform in the early 1970's. All statistics on higher education were previously available through a census. The data is now individually based, with all educational activities being attached to each individual's Personal ID-number. This individually based data forms the basis for the National Education Database (NUDB). This database enables the production of different kinds of individual-based statistics on education and is important for the production of statistics on the flow of students through the educational system.
The purpose of this statistic is to document the throughput of students in tertiary education. The statistics are individually based, reporting each educational activity for each student. Throughput statistics were first published in 2004.
Important users of the education statistics include the Ministry of Education and Research, public administration, research institutions, special interest organisations, media, business, industry and international organisations such as Eurostat, OECD and UNESCO.
The statistics include all students registered at universities and colleges that are classified by the Standard Industrial Classification as a tertiary institution. Analyses of the throughput of students are based on a cohort of new students in a given year and a description of their movements forward through the educational system. Alternatively, a cohort of graduates from a given year is taken and their movements are followed backwards through the educational system.
Student data is collected from the administrative systems of the various tertiary institutions. The most common administrative systems are M-STAS, used primarily by university colleges and FS, used primarily by universities. Tertiary institutions that don’t use M-STAS or FS must use their own administrative systems to create data files in the format specified by Statistics Norway. Data on Norwegian students abroad is obtained from the State Educational Loan Fund. Norwegian Institute for Studies in Research and Higher Education (NIFU) provides data on completed doctoral degrees. The Health Personnel Register supplements data on health education.
Survey techniques are not employed in these statistics.
Pursuant to the Statistical Act (June 1989, No.54), Statistics Norway collects student data from the administrative systems of the various tertiary institutions as described in 3.2 above.
Control and revision is performed on all data received from educational institutions. It encompasses deletion of duplicate records, a control for correct and valid values for each variable and checks for missing information. Several variables are re-coded to comply with control programs run by Statistics Norway and Personal ID-numbers are referenced against Statistics Norway's population database to check for errors.
The statistics are based on enumeration of registered students and tertiary graduates.
To prevent identification of individuals within the statistics, data is not released where less than three students are contained within a single cell in a table.
Enrolled students: Students registered at a Norwegian educational institution.
Completed Education: Educational activities completed with a pass grade.
Calculation of number of years:
1 year = 16 months or less
2 years = 17-28 months
3 years = 29-40 months
4 years = 41-52 months
5 years = 53-64 months
6 years = 65-76 months
7 years = 77-88 months
8 years = 89-100 months
9 years = 101-112 months
10 years = 113-124 months
11 years = 125-136 months
12 years = 137-148 months
13 years = 149 months or more
Parent's level of education. The parent with the highest educational level defines the social background of the student.
The Norwegian Standard Classification of Education, created by Statistics Norway in 1970, groups the educational activity. The standard was most recently revised in 2000. The type of educational institution is classified by the Standard Industrial Classification.
Educational statistics comprise of data collected from the administrative systems of the various tertiary institutions. Errors in the data can occur upon registration at the tertiary institutions, or during the control and revision processes performed by Statistics Norway. It is difficult to know the extent of the errors made in the registers. A person may be wrongly registered as being a student. Overestimation of student numbers is common for universities where registration occurs with payment of registration fees rather than enrolment in subjects. It is difficult to estimate the extent of over-registration of students.
Underreporting of completed education in 2004/05 and 2005/06 academic year, were mainly a problem with Cand.Mag. degrees (Bachelor of Social Science) as they don’t have a set curriculum. These degrees are often registered as completed once the diploma is issued rather than when the degree is actually completed. This time difference can lead to the student being reported as completing their degree in the year after they actually finished. These students will therefore be reported in the throughput statistics as taking one year longer than they actually did to complete their degree.
Throughput of students in tertiary education is defined as the number of years from first time registration in a tertiary institution until graduation. The statistics are not readjusted if a student changes to a new degree. According to this definition, very few students who switch degrees underway will be able to finish within the expected timeframe. Deferment and part-time studying are not accounted for either.
Not relevant.
Education statistics is not based on sample surveys
Not relevant.
Individually based data on competed education has been published annually since it was first collected in the 1973/74 school year. Most variables are comparable, but some have changed. The revised Norwegian Standard Classification of Education recoded education courses to enable comparison of newer and older data. While education courses are reasonably comparable over time, other variables are not (e.g. coding of institution types).
Statistics on the throughput of students was published for the first time in 2004. A reform was taken into action in 2003. The main effect of this reform was to introduce Bachelor and Masters Degrees, thereby reducing the duration of undergraduate degrees in Norway from four to three years, and postgraduate degrees from six to five years. Throughput statistics will not be entirely comparable during the period of transition to the new degree structure.
The Norwegian Institute for Studies in Research and Higher Education (NIFU) adjusts a number of statistics on throughput in tertiary education. These statistics are largely based on data from Statistics Norway.
Statistics Norway's Web site for statistics on higher education
Statistics Norway currently publishes different official education statistics each year. These statistics are first released via the homepage. Later it is accessed via the Education theme page or Statistics by subject.
Education statistics are also published annually in the Statistical Yearbook of Norway, Education at a Glance (OECD publication) and Key Data on Education in Europe (EU publication).
The series "Official Statistics of Norway" contains documentation of standards, methods and variables used to compile official statistics released by Statistics Norway. Documentation of individually based education statistics is available in English. A link to this documentation is available via the Norwegian version NOS D351.
Figures associated with publications of education statistics are available in StatBank Norway, where you may select the scope and content of each table, and then export data in various formats to your own PC.
All Statistics Norway's education statistics are stored in a proper, standardized manner in consultation with the Data Inspectorate.
2011 © Statistics Norway