About Swedish institutions

Swedish higher education institutions fall into two categories: universitet (university) and hogskola (university college). There are three levels of higher education in Sweden: first, second and third level. Most university colleges don't award third-level PhDs. The degrees offered in Sweden all conform to the Bologna Process, a European standard for higher education.

The Swedish government outlines degree frameworks, but much of the individual course content is left up to each institution. You'll find that it's not always immediately obvious if an institution is a university or a university college - for lower level degrees, a degree awarded at a university college carries the same weight as one awarded by a university. It's more important to check that the course content at your chosen university matches your requirements and long-term goals.

As an international student, you have a choice between undergraduate study, master's study or a doctoral-level course. The choice open to you depends on your grasp of Swedish - if you want an English-language course, then you have just over 600 degree programmes to choose from.