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Another year with record number of higher education applicants

Records were broken again this year, as 91,000 applied for higher education. Minister for Higher Education and Science Sofie Carsten Nielsen says the greatest task ahead is to ensure high quality higher education which can lead to jobs.

91,231 applications have been received for higher education in 2014 according to a tally from the Ministry of Higher Education and Science after the application deadline expired at 12:00 on 5 July.

This is the highest number of applicants ever, with a 4 per cent increase on applicant numbers compared to last year, when 88,040 were received.

The Government’s target of 60 per cent of a year group pursuing higher education and 25 per cent pursuing a Master’s level education will be achieved by the 2012 year group, according to projections of how school-leavers who complete 9th grade in 2012 will continue their education in the coming 25 years. Thus Denmark has reached a historic milestone.

Minister for Higher Education and Science Sofie Carsten Nielsen says that the focus now should not just be on how many receive a higher education, but that they are also receiving the best quality education.
- We need every quick brain and all hands on deck to find solutions to future challenges, for example within the areas of health and the environment. The innovative ideas and abilities of those young people who have applied to higher education today, will fuel the Denmark of tomorrow. Knowledge allows us to position ourselves strongly in an ever increasing globalised world, says Sofie Carsten Nielsen.

According to figures from the Expert Committee on Quality in Higher Education, about 15,000 extra graduates will find jobs annually in the private sector by 2030. The task now, therefore, is to ensure that all young people receive an education that offers market opportunities, states Sofie Carsten Nielsen.

- To maintain and develop our strong Danish welfare society, we must educate for the future. Education programmes should have future market and societal needs in mind. But education is also about dreams and opportunities in life. We must ensure that there are opportunities, futures and jobs for all the hopeful young people who apply for higher education. That is why I have turned the focus to ensuring our young people are offered high-quality education, says the minister.

Applications and admittance to higher education

  • 5 July: Deadline for Quota 1 applications.
  • 30 July: All applicants receive a response. At 00:01 on 30 July, the Ministry of Higher Education and Science publishes the key figures from the Coordinated Enrolment System (KOT), detailing number of applicants, accepted, and admission quotients for different programmes on ufm.dk.
  • In 2013, a total of 88,040 applied for higher education and 63,525 were accepted to programmes.

For further information please contact:

Special adviser, Office for Statistics and Analysis, Karen Lisbeth van Deurs, tel. +45 72 31 79 94, e-mail: kvi@uds.dk

Press officer Carina Elkott, tel. +45 50 90 05 49, e-mail: care@ufm.dk