Students in universities and colleges
04.02.40 - Universities and colleges
For the first time in 2006, both preliminary figures and final figures are being published. Preliminary figures are published in January. These figures consist of a more simple control- and revision process and do not include students abroad. Final figures are published in May and undergo a more thorough control- and revision process. The final figures also include students abroad.
Figures are presented at national level. Data does, however, include information that makes it possible to provide figures at municipal and county level.
360 - Division for Education Statistics
Statistics Act, sections 2.1 and 3.2 and the Ministry of Finance's delegation letter of 13 February 1990.
Data is provided pursuant to EU community regulations 1921/99, 1925/99, 557/98 and 3711/91.
The data is delivered to OECD, UNESCO and Eurostat.
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.
Norway`s education statistics went through a structural readjustment in the beginning of the 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. The data is contained in the National Education Database (NUDB) in a format that allows the production of different kinds of education statistics and connection with other types of individually based statistics where necessary (e.g. income, social-welfare).
The purpose of these statistics is to present individually based statistics of students in tertiary education in Norway.
Important users of the education statistics are public administration, special interest organizations, media, researchers, business and industry. Key users amongst the ministries are the Ministry of Education and Research, Ministry of Local Government and Regional Government, Ministry of Children and Family Affairs and the Ministry of Finance. The statistics are also used by international organisations such as EU, OECD and UNESCO.
The statistics cover all students of educational institutions that are classified as universities, specialised universities or university colleges in the Standard Industrial Classification per 1 October each year.
Universities: University of Oslo, University of Bergen, University of Tromsø (including the Norwegian College of Fishery and Science), University of Stavanger (previously Stavanger University College, classified as a university from 01.01.2005), Norwegian University of Life Sciences (previously Agricultural University of Norway, classified as a university from 01.01.2005), University of Agder (previously Agder university college, classified as a university from 01.09.2007), Norwegian University of Science and Technology (established in 1996 through amalgamation of the University of Trondheim, The Norwegian Institute of Technology, The College of Arts and Sciences, the Museum of Natural History and Archaeology and the Faculty of Medicine) and University of Nordland (previously Bodø University College, classified as a university from 01.01.2011).
Specialised university institutions: Norwegian Lutheran School of Theology, Norwegian School of Veterinary Science, The Oslo School of Architecture and Design (Previously Oslo School of Architecture), Norwegian Academy of Music, Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration and Molde University College - specialised university of logistics (1st of january 2010).
University colleges are grouped into: the state university colleges, military university colleges and other university colleges. The state university colleges is a term for type of university college which is a result from a reform in 1994. Other University Colleges include Oslo and Bergen`s National Academy of the Arts, Norwegian Police University College and all private university colleges (including the Norwegian School of Management).
Each student can be registered as active in only one educational activity per 1 October each year. For students registered in several courses, Statistics Norway chooses the educational activity that is considered their main course of study, with higher-level, specialised university colleges and full-time courses taking priority among others.
Information on Norwegian students abroad only includes students who take a whole degree abroad.
Pursuant to the Statistical Act, Statistics Norway collects student data 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 do not use M-STAS or FS must use their own administrative systems to create data files in the format specified by Statistics Norway. Information provided by the students themselves upon registration at an institution can also be used.
Information on Norwegian students abroad is provided by The State Education Loan Fund.
Survey techniques are not employed to obtain student statistics. All data is obtained from university and university college databases (see previous chapter).
Pursuant to the Statistical Act (June 1989, No.54), Statistics Norway collects student data from the administrative systems of the various tertiary institutions and from the State Education Loan Fund.
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, comparisons with last years data 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. At last duplicate students are deleted, which means that a student can only be counted once even though the student is registered at duplicated educational activities or educational institutions (see chapter 3.1.).
No estimation is performed. The statistics are based on enumeration of students in tertiary education.
To prevent identification of individuals within the statistics, data is not released where there are less than three students within a single cell in a table.
Enrolled students: Students registered at an approved tertiary institution per 1 October.
Type of school: According to the Standard Industrial Classification of 1994.
Educational activity: Classified by the Norwegian Standard Classification of Education (NUS2000). Courses are grouped according to their level and field of study.
Part time/full time: Part time studies are defined by a progression less than 70 per cent of a full-time loading. Some courses at university colleges are organised only as part time studies.
School county/municipality: Where the institution is located.
County of residence at 16 years: County where the student resided at the time he/she was 16 years old.
Age: Per 31 December.
Highest educational attainment of parents encompasses all of the following levels:
1) Primary and lower secondary education
2)upper secondary education
3) short tertiary education
4) long tertiary education (more than four years).
The education level of parents is defined as the highest level of education obtained by at least one of the parents. For more information see the following link http://www.ssb.no/english/subjects/04/01/utniv_en/ (use the folder ‘about the statistics’ laying in the left margin)
Educational activities are grouped by the Norwegian Standard Classification of Education, which was composed in 1970 by Statistics Norway and later revised in 1973, 1989 and 2000.
Educational institutions are classified as being tertiary by the Standard Industrial Classification
Statistical investigations can encounter various sources of error. These errors can occur either during data collection (in this case, registration of student information) or during data processing (control and revision processes performed by Statistics Norway). It is difficult to estimate the extent of error in student registers. A person may be wrongly registered as being a student, especially for individual institutions that use a different enumeration date to Statistics Norway (1 October). Overestimation of student numbers is common for Norway's universities where registration occurs with payment of registration fees rather than enrolment in subjects. Alternatively, a student may remain in the registration system after they have completed their studies. Students themselves can provide inaccurate information to the registers, or personal responsible for the registers may make errors during data input or be uncertain of the definition of certain variables.
The State Education Loan Fund documents Norwegian students abroad. However, Norwegians who study abroad without being associated with the loan fund will be missed out in the statistics. It is not known how many people this applies to.
See chapter 5.1.
Not relevant.
Not relevant.
Individually based data on students has been published annually since it was first collected in 1974. 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).
Tertiary education data is combined with secondary school data after the revision processes are complete. The data is thereby stored as single yearly files in the National Education Database (NUDB). Statistics Norway uses a similar system for all individually based statistics, making it easy to combine education statistics with other areas. Labour market statistics, health statistics, living conditions statistics and income and wage statistics are examples of other individually based statistics compiled by Statistics Norway.
See StatBank Norway link on the left hand menu.
Statistics Norway's homepage for statistics on higher education
Statistics Norway currently publishes 16 different official education statistics per year. These statistics are first released via the homepage, and are later accessed via the education theme page. Links to earlier publications can be found in the menu associated with the most recent publication for each topic.
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
Statistics Norway stores all data in a proper, standardised manner in consultation with the Data Inspectorate.
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