31/7-12 8:08

Universities overbooking new students by 10-15 pct

matriculation ceremony girl standing
Photo: Lars Juul Hauschildt
If things go 'wrong', students will be squashed into classrooms
Media report that universities are playing an 'airline' strategy, hoping for students to drop out at the last moment and still have ensured maximum capacity

The country’s universities are accepting 10 to 15 per cent more students than they can actually accommodate. For example, the University of Copenhagen has capacity for 6,887 new students. Nevertheless, this week it offered a place to 811 students – or 11.8 per cent – over that figure, reports Seven59.dk and several other Danish media.

The universities of Aarhus, Aalborg, Roskilde and Odense are also systematically overbooking to avoid having empty seats in the classroom when the semester begins.

According to Claus Nielsen, director of studies at the University of Copenhagen, »we overbook by about 10 per cent because we suspect that some students will not attend, and most programmes can handle having a couple of extra.«

Fire hazard

Chairman of the Joint Council of Danish students group Torben Holm is outraged, calling the double bookings a ‘loser strategy’.

He points out that having an excessive number of students sit on the floor during classes is not approved by the fire authorities.

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