Higher education in Sweden is divided into three levels – basic level, advanced level and doctoral level. All higher education at Uppsala University is offered in the form of courses. Students can apply to get admission to a single subject course or to a degree programme which is a package of courses that leads towards a degree.

At the national level, the Ministry of Education and Science is responsible for higher education and research. As of the academic year 2007/2008 Sweden has adopted the new higher education degree structure and other reforms in line with the current European-wide Bologna process aiming at harmonizing higher education structures in Europe.

Tuition and Application Fees

From Autumn semester 2011, students outside the EEA and Switzerland pay fees for study at Swedish universities according to parliamentary approval. Prices are decided by each university and will provide overall costs in full, which means that they contain the premium including management, reception, service and marketing.

Uppsala University may charge between SEK 80 000 and SEK 180 000 per academic year. In the humanities and social sciences are two different price tags for basic and advanced levels depending on certain courses that are more expensive than others.

Medicine, Pharmacy, Science and Technology:
Elementary: SEK 120 000 per academic year
Second level: SEK 135 000 per academic year
Med School: SEK 180 000 per academic year

Humanities and Social Sciences:
Two different charges at the first level: SEK 80 000 or SEK 100 000 per academic year
Two different charges at the advanced level: SEK 90 000 or SEK 110 000 per academic year

Science Education:
Elementary: SEK 80 000 per academic year
Second level: SEK 90 000 per academic year

Read more on the website Study in Sweden. You can also download a fact sheet about the bill.

Language of Instruction

A great number of single subject courses and study programmes are accessible to international students. Swedish is, although, the usual language of instruction for the basic level. Uppsala University offers a wide array of programmes and courses taught in Swedish. All students with sufficient and documented knowledge of Swedish, and also of English, can apply for these programmes and courses if they also meet the rest of the eligibility requirements.

At the advanced level Uppsala University offers a substantial amount of master programmes taught in English. Uppsala University does not offer any beginner courses in Swedish. You can find out where such courses are being held, and other ways to learn the Swedish language, at the Swedish Institute's website. Formal exchange students, however, are offered courses in basic Swedish and master students can be accepted if there is space available.

Single subject courses

Uppsala University offers over 1800 independent courses, so called single subject courses, stretching over all disciplines and from the basic level to the advanced levels of study.

Subject courses are usually offered in traditional university field of studies, such as the natural sciences, the social sciences and the humanities. Single subject courses vary in length but most frequently from 7,5 to 30 credits, in other words between 5-20 weeks in length (one and a half credit is equal to one week of full time study).

The university decides on an annual basis which courses it wishes to offer, although the course offerings do not change substantially from one year to the other. In Sweden, studies are usually confined to one subject at a time during a given semester which is different from, for instance, the case in the USA.

In Sweden, admission to one single subject course does not automatically lead to admission to additional studies towards a degree. Admission is only granted for that specific course on that specific admission occasion.

Most of the courses are taught in Swedish, so therefore knowledge of Swedish at the academic level is necessary. Although a growing number of courses have been made available in English, there is a priority for exchange students for admission to undergraduate courses taught in English.

Programmes

First degree programmes

First degree programmes vary in length from 3 to 5 1/2 years. Each programme consists of courses and subcourses of varying length. The first degree programmes are designed to meet different educational requirements. A full study programme comprises a number of courses in a particular field of study - such as business, humanities or natural sciences - and leads to a degree.

For admission to first degree programmes, knowledge of Swedish is absolutely necessary since the language of instruction is Swedish.

Master Programmes

Uppsala University offers a substantial selection of master programmes taught in English. They are normally open to both foreign and Swedish students with a bachelor’s degree (a Swedish Kandidatexamen) or an equivalent degree. The total length of the master programmes is from one to two years and leads to a Degree of Master (One Year and Two Years respectively).

Read more about the master programmes taugth in English.

Doctoral Studies

Postgraduate studies consist of a number of courses and a doctoral dissertation in which the doctoral student carries out an individual research project. The length of the studies to get a doctor’s degree is four years. It is sometimes possible to conclude the Ph D studies with a licentiate degree after two years. In most cases, prior knowledge of Swedish and particularly English is useful in order for your studies to be meaningful.

Read more about Doctoral Studies.