NEWS A total of 31,139 applications have been received for programmes and courses at Umeå University for the spring term of 2011. This is 3,864 more than the previous year. The increase corresponds to 14.2 per cent.
"It is very gratifying. Since the increase is additionally much greater for us compared to national average, I interpret this that Umeå University is a very attractive academic university and the university’s programmes and courses are highly approved," says Anders Fällström, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Education at Umeå University." "At the same time, we should remember that the numbers of applications are not an accurate measure of how many people eventually enrol in programmes and courses."
The number of applications to Umeå University has increased by 14.2 per cent, compared with 9.9 per cent for all higher education institutions in Sweden, according to a report from the National Agency for Higher Education (VHS). Umeå University ranks third among the universities and university colleges in the nation with the highest increase in the number of first choice applicants and the total number of applicants.
"Although Umeå University receives many applicants, it remains problematic that the applications are distributed unevenly across different programmes and courses," continues Anders Fällström. "Therefore, we will be revising our academic offerings. This is significantly important because all indications point to that the numbers of applications will drop quite dramatically after 2012."
Even though a greater amount of students are applying to Umeå University, we will not be able to accept more students than in the present situation, as financing from the government, also known as the funding cap, has not increased. 17,542 persons have applied first choice to Umeå University, or an increase of 5.8 per cent. This increase is also over national average of 2.9 per cent.
"It is very pleasing that more applicants selected Umeå University as their first choice," says Anders Fällström.
1. Linnaeus University: + 7,288 2. Örebro University: + 4,705
3. Umeå University: + 3,864 4. University College in Gävle + 3,165
5. Karolinska Institutet: + 3 023
1. Linnaeus University: + 3,944 2. Karolinska Institutet: + 1,270
3. Umeå University + 969 4. Mid Sweden University: + 879
5. Örebro University: + 828
The number of applicants to higher education institutions in Sweden has increased steadily over the past three years. The greatest increase is among applicants that are 24 years old and younger. The number of applicants to the spring term 2011 increased for all age groups compared with the same term in 2009. Of the applicants, 63 per cent are women, 33 per cent men; three per cent did not have a Swedish civic registration number and could be gender designated. Among the 20 most popular programmes in the country are, as usual, medicine, law and business.
Contact person: Anders Fällström, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Education at Umeå University
E-mail: anders.fallstrom@adm.umu.se
Phone: +46 (0)70 - 493 85 27
Photo: Mikael Lundgren
Editor: David Meyers