Manpower Scholarships for Foreign Students

We need to be better at attracting talented foreign students and making them stay in Denmark subsequently. In 2007, Danish universities saw a decrease of 8.5 per cent in the number of foreign students completing a full education in Denmark. This decrease is seen although the number has been growing constantly since 2000.

– Exchange of knowledge is important. We should therefore welcome foreign students who wish to study in Denmark. But we also need these talented people afterwards in the labour market, so we need to be better at making them stay here, says Science Minister Helge Sander.

In the new debate book "Fremtidens universiteter"*, recently published by Gyldendal, Science Minister Helge Sander launched an idea to introduce "manpower" scholarships. Such scholarships are to finance the education of talented foreign students in Denmark, and in return the students will stay and work in Denmark for a few years after completing their education.

– I have now asked the Ministry to look at various models on how we can establish the new scholarships. We need to clarify the advantages and disadvantages of the models before taking a final position, says Helge Sander.

The newest figures show that 28 per cent of foreign students completing a master's programme in Denmark are employed in this country one year later. Within one year, 53 per cent have left the country.

The share and number of foreign students who complete their education in Denmark vary widely among the universities. The IT University has a share of 12 per cent of foreign students who complete a full education. The University of Copenhagen only has a share of three per cent, but in return they represent the largest number – nearly 1,200 foreign students. Altogether, 4,712 foreign students were completing a full education in Denmark in 2007.

For further information, please contact the Ministry's press officer, Charlotte Holst, phone +45 22 11 02 00 or chhh@vtu.dk.

*"Universities of the Future" – only in Danish.

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