The oldest university in Sweden and Scandinavia, Uppsala University,
was founded in 1477 with faculties for philosophy, law and theology for
those who did not want or could not afford to study at universities
abroad. In the 17th century university education expanded to natural
sciences as well as education for public officials. Natural sciences
expanded further during the 18th century.
In the 19th century an
entry exam (later to become the matriculation exam) was introduced. In
the 1860s the exam was transferred to the grammar schools, however the
universities retained great influence over examination. Specialisation
and interest in research made scientific skills one of the main
criteria when appointing professors.
At the end of the 19th
century a number of specialised higher educational institutes were
started, later to become university colleges. University colleges were
established in Stockholm in 1878 and in Göteborg in 1891. They focused
on natural sciences and aimed at fulfilling a general educational
function co-operating closely with the surrounding society. In time
these university colleges became universities. In 1889 Sweden appointed
its first and possibly Europe's first female professor.
The
major expansion of higher education took place in the 1960s when many
university colleges were established. During the 1950s and 1960s higher
education was the subject of a number of investigations, which led to
changes regarding financing as well as in the tasks of university
staff. A line (study programme) system with centrally determined
curricula was introduced in 1969 and postgraduate education became
regulated.
In 1977 higher education underwent comprehensive
reform. Nearly all post-secondary education was integrated into a
single system governed by common legislation and ordinances. The reform
emphasised higher education as a preparatory step for working life and
its closer adjustment to the needs of working life. At the same time
open admission was abolished by the Riksdag, which from now on each
year decided on the dimensioning of educational study programmes and
the scope of single-subject courses. The admission to education
programmes was handled by a central authority that also managed the
planning of education provided, including general curricula for the
national study programmes. The university colleges themselves handled
admission to courses.
A new act and ordinance for the higher
education sector was adopted in 1993. The responsibility for planning
and decisions on content of educational study programmes was
transferred to the institutions for higher education, while the
responsibility for degrees including their scope and goals remained
with the Government and the Riksdag. The main aim of the reform was to
give higher education institutions greater freedom in decision making
over courses and admission of students, who in their turn gained
greater freedom of choice.
Mainly as a result of the Bologna
process, legislation for a three-cycle structure of higher education
has been adopted and applied since 1 July 2007. The new structure
replaces the former system and is the only structure for all higher
education (HEIs). This will improve international comparability of
Swedish education in accordance with the Bologna process. The former
degree system has been reformed and structured to fit the new
three-cycle system.
In recent years the number of students has
increased and new university colleges have been established. Since 1998
each county in Sweden has at least one university or university college.
Institutions:
Högskoleverket
(The Swedish National Agency for Higher Education) Box 7851 Box 7851, S-103 99 STOCKHOLM Sweden Tel.:+46-8-563 085 00 Fax:+46-8-563 085 50 E-mail:hvs@hvs.se Website: http://www.hsv.se
Regeringen
(The Swedish Government) Rosenbad 4, S-103 33 STOCKHOLM, Sweden Tel.:+46-8-405 10 00 Website:http://www.regeringen.se
Uppsala universitet (Uppsala University) Box 256, S-751 05 UPPSALA, Sweden Tel.:+46-18-471 00 00 Fax:+46-18-471 20 00 E-mail: registrator@uu.se Website:http://www.uu.se
EN 
CS
DE
ES
FR
HU
IT
PL
PT
РУ
SK
TR
УК
AR
中文
