Economy gloom means boom for student numbers

The recession has record number of Danish students opting for University of Copenhagen

by Christoffer Zieler, English version by Johanne Wenstrup

Economic recessions are bad news, but they may be good for something: More young people choose to get a higher education and the study grant that comes with it. This is according to our Danish sister publication Universitetsavisen.dk.

Danish universities assign student places based on applicants' priority lists and grade averages. Some study programmes - Medicine, Political Science, Film and Media Studies - are normally more popular than others. They turn applicants away while less prestigious studies have trouble filling the classrooms. But not this year.

»Applicants have had a plan B this year,« says head of study programmes at the University of Copenhagen, Claus Nielsen. »Applicants have applied to more than one place. Broader, and maybe more realistically.«

Grants are a great motivator

There are hardly any empty places left at the University of Copenhagen. The Faculty of Humanities, for example, has only three.

The high number of applications may have to do with short-term economics:

»There is nothing new in more people applying for higher education when times are hard. A banal explanation could be that being a student guarantees you access to the Danish monthly study grant (SU),« explains Claus Nielsen.

Record-high number of accepted applicants

About 17,000 people applied to the University of Copenhagen this year, with 12,000 listing it as their first priority. 5,000 of them were rejected, but most of these will be accepted at one of the country's other eight universities.

University of Copenhagen had previously stated it would make 85 new places for students, but it has gone beyond this mark. 326 more spots are available compared to last year. The University of Copenhagen sets a record this year with 7,000 accepted students.

»The university is very happy with this result.« says Claus Nielsen.

johanne.wenstrup@adm.ku.dk

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