Norway has been a renowned destination among international students because of its free tuition universities. Most public universities in Norway offer free education for Undergraduate, postgraduate, Ph.D. and other post-doctoral courses except for some business administration courses at some Universities. This is done to ensure that everybody receives a fair chance to receive a good quality education from the Universities in Norway.
Even though education is free here, the cost of living is quite expensive and much higher than in other European countries. Students are required to take care of their living expenses which include accommodation, travel, study material, food, and miscellaneous expenses. While Universities do not charge tuition fees, students may be required to pay a semester fee which is approximately around $100-$150.
Let us look at some great Universities in Norway that do not charge a tuition fee to their students.
University of Nord
Located in Bodø, this is one of Norway’s youngest universities. While it does not charge a tuition fee to its students, students are required to transfer the amount of their living expenses estimated by the Government of Norway, into an account that is opened by Nord University. Only registered students are required to transfer this amount which amounts to about $14000. This money gets transferred back to student accounts before the semester begins. The semester fee charged by Nord University is about $80. Nord University does not offer any scholarships to its students. It offers different postgraduate and undergraduate courses, one-year programs, and semester exchange programs to its international and exchange students. Based on the course, the admission criteria might vary. Some might require the previous institution to send previous transcripts in sealed envelopes directly to the admissions office at the University of Nord.
University of Bergen
As the name suggests, this University is located in Bergen and does not charge a tuition fee to its students. Apart from the living expenses estimated by the Government of Norway, the only fee that students will be required to pay is about $65 to the Student Welfare Organization. The University of Bergen does not offer any scholarship. While the University offers master’s degrees, exchange studies, fine arts, and design degrees in English, it does not offer undergraduate courses in English. Students looking to pursue undergraduate courses are required to prove Norwegian language proficiency during their application process. Students can also apply for the online courses and other online education offered by the University of Bergen.
Norwegian University of Science and Technology
NTNU does not charge any tuition fee to its students but requires the estimated living expenses to be transferred to NTNU’s deposit account during the admission process. NTNU does not offer any scholarships or loans to students. It offers a vast option of undergraduate, postgraduate, doctoral, and exchange programs. Students pursuing English courses are required to be fluent in English and will have to submit IELTS or TOEFL scores. However, for courses that are in Norwegian, Norwegian as well as English proficiency is a must.
Oslo Metropolitan University
Previously known as Oslo and Akershus University College, this university does not charge any tuition fees to its students but requires them to be able to meet their living costs. The University does not offer any scholarship to its students. It offers postgraduate, one-semester, Ph.D. programs, and summer school to its students. Apart from native English speakers from some countries, other students have to give proof of their English proficiency during the application process.
UiT TArctic University of Norway
Students of the Arctic University of Norway are not required to pay any tuition fees for any of their programs. They offer about 30 undergraduate and postgraduate degrees to their students. The University of Arctic does not offer any scholarships or stipends. Non-exchange students are required to pay a semester fee of $70. Another important fact to be noted about UiT is that they have four campuses in Tromsø, Alta, Narvik, and Harstad.
Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences
Also known commonly as the INN University, it does not charge any tuition fees to its students but requires them to pay a semester and registration fee of $90. The university does not offer scholarships to its students. INN University has six campuses Blæstad, Elverum, Evenstad, Hamar, Lillehammer, and Rena. The university offers undergraduate, postgraduate, and exchange courses and degrees in a wide range of subjects like law, music, sports, agricultural processes, biotechnology, and many more.
Studying in Norway can be a very enriching experience for international and exchange students. Even though the cost of living is high, the Government of Norway calculates yearly budgets that are realistic for students.
While most of the public universities do not offer scholarships, students are encouraged to look for scholarships from their home universities and other sources. Most institutions have most of these sources listed on their websites. Students can also work part-time to meet parts of their expenditure and the rules or directions to such work are mentioned on websites of all universities.
