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Masters In Sweden - No tuition fees

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Reply 20
Original post by Lilium
:cool:

Not in all universities though. Goettingen, for example, charge ~700 euros per semester but that is of course, negligible, in contrast to the ~12k pounds non-EU students pay in England. If I'm not mistaken, transport-fees are also included in this fee, no?


Yes, there is some kind of nominal fee which includes free transportation card, it varies, but basically is negligible.
Original post by Jacobdatz
Hello World of TSR

Just pondering over a few questions with regards to the title of this post.

I am currently a second year student studying Biomedical Science and thought it best to start researching routes of furthering my education after I complete my third year.

While looking through master programmes on a number of different British based universities I turned my attention towards some abroad and ended up researching Swedish universities such as;

Karolinska, Lund, Umea and Uppsala

What interested me most about these is the fact that as a member of the EU I wouldn't be required to pay tuition or application fees to study at these universities.

I was just wondering if anyone has any more information of this sort of thing as it seems quite strange to me.

Has anyone done a masters or PhD abroad in sweden?
What is the cost of living there like?
Are there hidden catches?

The opportunity seems remarkly good and I'd be glad if anyone has already done research into this sort of situation and can help.

Any information would be appreciated
Many Thanks
Jacobdatz


Yes, it is free, I'm pretty sure that a) students certainly at undergrad get an allowance as well as free tuition (you normally pay a registration fee at the start of your course and a small amount every year). If you managed to get funding for a PhD, bear in mind that some of the Scandinavian funding is greater than what you might get elsewhere. Gottingen Uni and Karolinka Institutet are really good for research.
Reply 22
Original post by kka25
Why on earth they would do that? :eek:

I do not know if this is a valid question but wouldn't free stuff like this makes the country a socialist one?


Probably, but in general politics has, I think, moved beyond those definitions. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, all developed world governments are some hue of socialism.

Since education is free, would this effect the quality of the Uni in general? e.g. teaching, facilities, morale, etc.


What it certainly does do is devalue the degree. European public universities are considered vastly inferior to British ones though of course there are several luminaries. Actual teaching quality etc, well it's the same age-old debate as to whether more competition means more or less care for the consumer.

France, I know, has created a two-tier system: everyone who's anyone wants to get into a grande ecole, which are private colleges for individual disciplines. Public universities are just schools basically, you generally go to your local one and as long as you've passed your baccalaureate they have to let you in.

University prestige doesn't matter nearly as much for postgrad though; the important thing is the quality and investment in the research you're doing. Lots of projects are cross-university ones anyway.
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 23
Original post by Arekkusu

What it certainly does do is devalue the degree. European public universities are considered vastly inferior to British ones though of course there are several luminaries. Actual teaching quality etc, well it's the same age-old debate as to whether more competition means more or less care for the consumer.


Based on what? If you're basing this on the rankings and people's perception, I think you're underestimating those universities really.

University prestige doesn't matter nearly as much for postgrad though; the important thing is the quality and investment in the research you're doing. Lots of projects are cross-university ones anyway.


It should be like this all over the world I think =/
(edited 12 years ago)
Original post by kka25
Based on what? If your basing this on the rankings and people's perception, I think you're underestimating those universities really.


Ditto.

It should be like this all over the world I think =/


Why would you think it isn't? I don't have any reliable source for that, except for headhunters on those "job listings" websites, but my understanding is that rankings don't matter much for PhDs. At least, not as much as they *seem* to do for undergraduate study.
Original post by Arekkusu
France, I know, has created a two-tier system: everyone who's anyone wants to get into a grande ecole, which are private colleges for individual disciplines. Public universities are just schools basically, you generally go to your local one and as long as you've passed your baccalaureate they have to let you in.


What exactly do you mean by "everyone who's anyone"?

The grandes ecoles are not necessarily private, nor are they necessarily for individual disciplines. One can study a few subjects there. Generally, one must have gone through a classe preparatoire first, but there are certain schools who recruit post-French baccalaureate/IB/A-Levels as well. In any case, I don't see why one think that they are for individual disciplines. The same grande ecole can offer tracks in fields as different as applied or pure mathematics and say, mechanical engineering.

Further, one should consider that a "diplome" from a grande ecole is usually the equivalent to a master's degree. [two years in prepa + 3-4 years in the ecole]

Certain disciplines, such as law and medicine, are not even offered in the grande ecoles. These are exclusively university subjects. Mathematics and the sciences are also generally university subjects but certain grandes ecoles also offer these as well, to their "engineering students" (i.e, students from the engineering preparatory classes).
Reply 26
To clarify a few things:

No, there's no hidden catch. Until a few years ago it was mandatory to join a union which cost like £80 a year, but nowadays there's no mandatory fees. Obviously you still have to buy books etc if you don't like libraries.

Regarding living expenses:
Most Swedish people that go to England tells me that they pay twice as much in rent in the UK for half the standard. We jokingly call England a "third world country", because of things like carpet floors, old-fashioned vacuum cleaners, bad isolation, bad heating, different taps for hot and cold water etc... Friends in Scotland have even told me that they wear winter clothes inside - while I can walk around in underwear in my dorm room without feeling the least bit cold.

In Uppsala and Lund, you pay £300 for a room on average. In Umeå, £200. In Stockholm, a lot more - at least £400.

All masters programmes in Sweden are taught in English. About 50% of masters students are foreign, but the number is higher in the sciences.

PhD studies pays about £2000 a month as it is considered a job/employment in Sweden. However, you need a masters to be eligible (we don't do the whole 1+3 thing for example). However, certain masters programmes, such as biology at Uppsala, have a 35% rate of students who start PhD studies upon finishing.

A use-as-much-as-you-want transport card for one month is about £30 in almost all cities, except in Stockholm where it's about £100.

Alcohol tends to be more expensive, since Sweden has high alcohol taxes. A drink with 4 cl in Umeå/Uppsala/Lund at a student bar is about £5, and about £8 in Stockholm.

Regarding food, you can usually get a lunch out for about £5. £10 in Stockholm. I never spend more than maybe £150-200 a month on food.

Swedish students live on ~£800 a month and that's a decent budget. Won't do in Stockholm, but you'll be fine everywhere else.
Original post by Mr Dangermouse
Do they teach in English?


Yeah they teach in English - bonus!
Reply 28
Original post by kka25
Why on earth they would do that? :eek:

Since education is free, would this effect the quality of the Uni in general? e.g. teaching, facilities, morale, etc.


It's not exactly free. People pay taxes, and some of the taxes go straight to the schools. In that way, you can see it like everyone puts som coins to your education..

(I know this was written a year ago, but I didn't see any answers to this)
Original post by janjanmmm
In Germany NOBODY pays tuition, including non-EU residents. Same in Switzerland. Used to be like that in Sweden, but then they decided not to spend government money on people from non-EU countries. Looks like if the trend continues they may start charging non-Swedish students soon enough.


I've read that there are tuitions in Switzerland... Aren't they? Somebody should really make a BIG THREAD about countries & universities without tuitions (or minimal ones).
Reply 30
Original post by Shadowplay
I've read that there are tuitions in Switzerland... Aren't they? Somebody should really make a BIG THREAD about countries & universities without tuitions (or minimal ones).


There maybe some exceptions, but generally there is no tuition. I checked programs at the University of Bern and University of Geneva for MSc Economics and both are free of charge even for International students (or rather there is a nominal fee of 655 franks, or about 400 pounds, per semester, but it is as good as nothing).
(edited 11 years ago)
Reply 31
No tuition fees policy rocks!
Reply 32
Original post by Kleet
No tuition fees policy rocks!


Totally! The only problem in the case of Germany and Switzerland is that not many courses are offered in English. I can do MSc Economics, but that's about all, where is in the UK I have a wide choice of subjects. Too bad my German is not very good...
Original post by janjanmmm
Totally! The only problem in the case of Germany and Switzerland is that not many courses are offered in English. I can do MSc Economics, but that's about all, where is in the UK I have a wide choice of subjects. Too bad my German is not very good...


Me too, I'm trying to find MA translation English-German-Spanish or just English-German, but the problem is that most of these translation studies want German as your A (native-like) language, the language to which you translate. No can do. :frown:

I'm currently looking at Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, or maybe Netherlands... I'd love to do Sweden, but the costs are just too expensive.
(edited 11 years ago)
Reply 34
It's because in Norway transparency is important and that way a lot of fraud and corruption is avoided. Also we're not so touchy feely about how much we're earning. Having said that, the information is only available for a limited time and it's not your salary per se that's listed but your taxable income. And in terms of phone numbers, isn't that the same everywhere? It's called the phonebook? Only that in Norway that's also available online, more handy that way.. And listing is optional.

Anyway, back to the actual topic. Universities in Norway/Sweden/Denmark are free as long as theyre public which almost all are, you pay a small student fee though that could be something like a hundred pounds a year or so. Not a significant amount anyway. For PhD's I think it'd be hard to find one in English but theyre are definitely plenty of masters degrees offered in English. But keep in mind its still usually taught by natives so it won't be perfect English but I'm sure it's good enough (not that that's much different in the UK either, most my professors were foreign).

Education in Scandinavia is definitely not affected by the fact that students don't have to pay for it. It just means the money is coming in from a different place, they still have money. Scandinavian universities in general are modern, well-equipped and fairly prestigious.

Cost of living is higher than the UK, but comparing Stockholm with London I don't think the difference is that big except for food and alcohol.

Good luck
Reply 35
I can as well agree on that the living costs are VERY high in Sweden, but yet the earnings are one of highest (or highest, is it?) earnings in the Europe. You probably know that after the amount of posts in this thread, but well I'm going to sleeep and just wanted to post this, cheers :smile:
Reply 36
On the matter of the cost of living in Sweden (as a student), it very much depends where you compare it with. I would say as someone who has studied in London and Sweden that Sweden is actually slightly cheaper (at worst, the same). This is because student accommodation is MUCH MUCH cheaper than that in London (which does admittedly have disproportionately horrendously high housing prices compared to the rest of the UK). It's worth bearing this in mind. And then of course, if you study in a city like Uppsala or Lund where student life is very much based at the student nations, drinks are certainly at worst the same price (but mainly cheaper) than non-student venues in London - and few people stick to doing their socialising at the student union at London universities.

It should be said that it can be hard to find student accommodation in the big student cities in Sweden - there are housing shortages. If you are considering applying to a Swedish university, sign up to the housing queues NOW. It doesn't matter if you later decide not to go. The more queue days you have, the greater chance you have of getting accommodation. Student accommodation is generally allocated on the basis of how long you have been queuing for. And remember, that unlike the most UK universities, you are not limited to living in student accommodation for only your first year.

On fees, in Sweden there is no longer even any requirement to join the student union (and nation where applicable, i.e. Uppsala/Lund) since the right-wing government abolished mandatory membership from autumn 2010. So, there are no compulsory fees whatsoever (unless you stretch to counting books that you might need to purchase etc). However, it's still a very good idea to join the student union and nation, they do a lot of good work for students and you are excluded from many of their services if you don't join. And you're only looking at a fee of around 20 pounds per term (of which there are two per academic year).
Reply 37
Well "free education" is quite common in Europe.
So you could also do your master's degree in Germany, the Netherlands, France (i think), ... Advantage of those countries would be the cheaper living expanses (compared to Sweden). On the other hand if you like Scandinavia/can get a nice job there, you should definitely go for it. I'm also considering it...
+ the fact education is "free" in Scandinavia really doesn't make it worse.
Reply 38
Original post by no-fat-chicks
look at Universities in Denmark as courses are free to EU Citizens too and there are a lot of courses in English.
Also another important point to consider is the cost of living as I'm not sure if Student finance will loan to you if it's abroad but it's worth phoning up and enquiring.


Just be aware that living in Denmark is even more expensive than Sweden.
Reply 39
Original post by Arekkusu
Probably, but in general politics has, I think, moved beyond those definitions. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, all developed world governments are some hue of socialism.



What it certainly does do is devalue the degree. European public universities are considered vastly inferior to British ones though of course there are several luminaries. Actual teaching quality etc, well it's the same age-old debate as to whether more competition means more or less care for the consumer.

France, I know, has created a two-tier system: everyone who's anyone wants to get into a grande ecole, which are private colleges for individual disciplines. Public universities are just schools basically, you generally go to your local one and as long as you've passed your baccalaureate they have to let you in.

University prestige doesn't matter nearly as much for postgrad though; the important thing is the quality and investment in the research you're doing. Lots of projects are cross-university ones anyway.


Personally I have found A-levels/Highers to be easier to achieve a high grade in, in the UK. As in the UK you dont have oral examination for every subject as a part of the exam. I cant comment on unis tho.

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