Around 7500 receive a study place offer

INN University has sent out 7,462 offers of study places  just over 400 more than last year. A total of 6,793 people are on the waiting list.

A smiling group of students standing on campus

Around 7,500 students have been offered a study place at INN University starting this autumn. Photo: INN University.

The numbers emerge from the figures for this year's main admissions to higher education. Looking back at the applicant numbers from April, INN University had consistently good applicant numbers, with over 15,000 selecting INN University as their first choice. Nationally, however, this year saw a 12% decrease in the number of applicants to the Norwegian Universities and Colleges Admission Service compared to 2021.

Pro-rector for education, Stine Grønvold, says the admission figures largely mirror the applicant figures from April. She is happy that INN University appeals to many qualified applicants who have now been offered study places at our various campuses.

“INN University aims to be a future-oriented and solid educational institution, and the result from the main admission shows that we are attractive in the eyes of many future students. We are excited to welcome the new students at the beginning of the academic year this autumn, with bustling life on our campuses,” says Grønvold.

Waiting lists for several study programmes

The statistics from the main admissions show that 6,793 people are on the waiting list for study programmes at INN University, where 26 of our study programmes through the Norwegian Universities and Colleges Admission Service have a waiting list. This is just over 2,300 fewer than last year.

Generally speaking, many of our flexible courses that can be taken online, part-time or off-campus have long waiting lists. The online programme in accounting and financial counselling has, for example, 406 applicants on the waiting list, while the online bachelor's degree in economics and administration has 667. The highest number is for the organization and management programme at Rena, which is offered part-time online. This study programme has over 1,200 applicants on its waiting list.

“We have a number of flexible study programmes that are offered online and off-campus, and the competition is very tough for some of these. It is positive that many people take an interest in these study programme, but unfortunately not everyone gets into their first choice,” says Grønvold.

From the autumn, INN University offers several completely new full-time, online and off-campus study programmes, and several of these have proven to be very popular. At the Elverum campus, the year-long online course in food, nutrition, and health, has filled up and has 485 applicants on its waiting list.

At the same time, there are several study programmes that have shorter waiting lists compared to previous admissions, including nursing. Our nursing programmes had over 1,200 on its waiting list last year. In this year's admission, there are a total of 109 applicants on the waiting list.

Available study places

While some study programmes have long waiting lists, there are still study places available in other programmes, including at the Faculty of Education, which has sent out 1,357 study offers.

“Training more teachers poses a national challenge, and this summer we were able to congratulate our first graduating class of the new master's programme for primary school teachers upon completion of the programme. Many of these newly graduated students have already obtained relevant jobs, which shows that there is a need for primary school teachers from INN University in schools all over Norway,” says Grønvold.

Grønvold is clear that INN University as an educational institution must reach different target groups and have a strong focus on high quality in both the campus-based education and studies that are offered online and off-campus.

“We must compete and be an attractive educational institution not only for the young people who are going to study here, but also for those who want to refresh their skills. Young people should want to study at our inviting and reliable campuses, and their parents should want their kids to study with us since we have relevant study programmes that maintain a high academic quality,” says Grønvold.

Over 2000 have accepted study places in the local admission

In addition to admission via the Norwegian Universities and Colleges Admission Service, INN University has a local admission for master's degrees and continuing education. 6,402 people applied this spring via our local admission. This resulted in 4,337 offers of study places for our part-time study programmes and master's courses. Just over 2,500 applicants have already accepted offers of study places with us in the local admission.

“We are very excited for the start of the academic year this week. As an educational institution, we will continue to follow our students closely, and we are delighted to welcome both new and returning students,” concludes Grønvold.

By Håkon Boye Bergum
Published Aug. 15, 2022 12:40 PM - Last modified Aug. 15, 2022 1:29 PM