As expected student numbers in international master's courses in Sweden have dropped sharply for the autumn semester. However, the University of Gothenburg has fared better than expected following the Swedish government's decision to introduce tuition fees.
384 students have been offered places in GU's international master's courses for the autumn semester. This is 28 percent less than in the same semester last year when 528 students were offered places. Nationwide the decline was 58 percent, from 19,147 to 8,075.
- I can see that the Universtiy of Gothenburg has a larger number of accepted applicants when it comes to both students that study for free and those that are required to pay, compared to other universities that don't offer qualified engineer programs. It shows that the University of Gothenburg has competitive program offers on an advanced level, says Mats Edvardsson, head of Student Affairs at the University of Gothenburg.
The reason for the decline is the government's decision to introduce tuition fees for non-EU/EEA students. Depending on the course and university, annual fees will range from 100,000 to 200,000 SEK.
