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Accrediting Body:
Norwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education (NOKUT)
Postboks 1708 Vika, 0121 Oslo
Street address: Kronprinsens gate 9,
Oslo, Norway
Phone: + 47 21 02 18 00
Fax: + 47 21 02 18 01
Email: Postmottak@nokut.no
Website: www.nokut.no
Accreditation Process:
The Norwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education (NOKUT) is an independent governmental agency whose purpose is to control and develop the quality of Norwegian higher education institutions through the evaluation, accreditation and recognition of quality assurance systems, institutions and education programmes.
NOKUT was established by the Storting in 2002 and became operative 1 January 2003 and is mandated by the Act of 1 April 2005 No. 15 relating to universities and university colleges.
Accreditation is a subject-related evaluation to assess whether an institution of higher education and/or the studie(s) this institution offers, fulfills a given set of standards. The process of accreditation will give some concrete proposals for the
institution's further development. In Norway, accreditation is divided into two fields: a) accreditation of institution, and b) accreditation of courses.
Only accredited institutions have the right to call themselves accredited college, specialised university or university. Private and state institutions are covered by the same standards for accreditation.
Only courses which are accredited or recognised by NOKUT or accredited due to the institution's own accreditation, have the right to be called higher education.
Program accreditation is obtained following an application for specific courses or programs that the institution is not accredited to provide independently. NOKUT sets the standards and criteria for program accreditation and conducts evaluations
or assessments directed at such accreditation.
Education in Norway
Norway has recently introduced bachelor's, master's and PhD degrees, generally on a 3 year + 2 year + 3 year model, which superseded the old degrees at the end of 2003.
The academic titles are bachelorgrad, mastergrad or Phd, plus the title that indicates the name of the programme (i.e. "Bachelor i Medievitenskap"). It is important to note that parallel to the new degrees, the old undergraduate degrees were awarded until 2005, and the old graduate degrees were awarded until 2007.
The høgskolekandidat degree
The høgskolekandidat degree is obtained after two years of study. This degree may be built upon to obtain a bachelor's degree. The degree is offered at state university colleges and a few private higher education institutions.
The bachelor's degree
The bachelor's degree is awarded by all universities, specialized university institutions, state university colleges and a good number of the other higher education institutions, both private and public. It is obtained after three years of study.
The master's degree
The master's degree is awarded by the universities and specialized university institutions, several university colleges and some private higher education institutions. The degree is normally obtained after two years of study. An important part of this degree is independent work. In a few subject areas, students enrol for a five-year integrated master's degree. For purposes of
internationalization, some master's degree courses with instruction in English have been introduced at higher education institutions.
The Philosophiae Doctor degree
The doctoral degree, Philosophiae Doctor (Phd) is awarded after three years of study following completion of a master's degree or a six-year professionally oriented degree/ qualification. Doctoral programmes are offered by all universitylevel institutions, including specialized university institutions and some university colleges. The programme consists of completion of independent research in active collaboration with the academic supervisor(s) and other researchers, an approved set of courses or instruction (at least 30 ECTS credits) including compulsory courses in the philosophy of science and ethics, participation in an active national
and international research environment, all this closely linked to the thesis work by the doctoral candidate. An agreement is required for all doctoral candidates which stipulates that the objectives are to ensure completion of the doctoral degree and regulates the rights of the involved parties throughout the degree programme.
