The head of the biggest business university in Norway (pop. 5.5 million) has decried the lack of government focus on attracting international students, warning that the nation is already “far behind” other European countries. In an interview with Times Higher Education, Inge Jan Henjesand, president of BI Norwegian Business School, says discussion of attracting international students is “not existing” among policymakers, despite the fact there is a strong demand among Norway’s higher education institutions. He believes attracting international students will improve Norwegian universities.

“Countries such as Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands have drawn up specific and targeted strategies for recruiting students from other countries,” he says. “For these countries it is quite obvious that such strategies are essential in a knowledge-based economy. Norway is already far behind. But I don’t see any strategy from the authorities (as) in other countries.” 

According to the Database for Statistics on Higher Education in Norway, there were 25,424 overseas students in undergraduate and taught postgraduate courses in the country’s higher education institutions in 2016. This includes students from Europe, including countries that are not in the European Union, and 10,157 from outside the continent.

Statistics Norway puts the country’s total number of students in October 2015 at 266,400, suggesting that international learners, including those from Europe, represent around 9.5 percent of this cohort. In contrast, non-EU students alone represented 14 percent of all students at UK universities in 2015-16.