Norway: Tuition fees & cost of living

If seeing the Northern Lights is on your bucket list, chances are you are already familiar with how awe-inspiring Norway’s natural landscape is. But beyond being a tourist destination, Norway is also very popular with international students.

For a long time, studying in Norway used to be tuition-free for all students. But beware: Since autumn 2023, only citizens of the EU/EEA or Switzerland can study for free, while all other students have to pay tuition fees.

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💸 Can you study in Norway for free?

Students who are citizens of the EU/EEA or Switzerland, or who are already permanent residents of Norway, can study tuition-free at Norwegian universities.

Also, exchange students from universities in other countries don’t pay tuition fees in Norway (but might still have to pay fees at their sending institution)

However, all other students have to pay tuition fees. Norway used to be tuition-free for all students, but has since then changed the law. Since autumn 2023, non-European students are charged for their studies if they are studying in Norway for their full degree.

🤔 Who has to pay tuition fees to study in Norway?

Public universities in Norway distinguish between nationalities to decide whether a student has to pay for their Bachelor or Master:

• Students who are citizens of a country in the EU or EEA, or Switzerland, can study for free at public universities. They might have to pay fees at private institutions.

• International students from outside the EU/EEA generally have to pay tuition fees (“studieavgift” in Norwegian”) to get their degree in Norway. This is a new rule since autumn 2023.

All students also have to pay a so-called semester fee of about 100 euros.

💼 Tuition fees at private universities & business schools

Students enrolling at private universities and business schools in Norway generally have to pay tuition fees.

The exact amounts are different depending on whether you’re a citizen from the EU/EEA or Switzerland, or of another country.

For example, studying for a Bachelor at BI Norwegian Business School costs EU/EEA students 95,000 NOK per year (ca. €9,000), while other international students have to pay ca. 125,000 NOK (ca. €11,000).

🪙 Overview: Tuition fees in Norway

Here is an overview of tuition fees at public universities in Norway. These fees only apply to degree-seeking students who are not citizens of the EU/EEA or Switzerland:

University	Tuition fees per year (for students who are not from the EU/EEA/CH) ...in NOK	Tuition fees per year (for students who are not from the EU/EEA/CH) ...in EUR
NHH Norwegian School of Economics	180,000 NOK	Ca. €16,000
Nord University	130,000 to 260,000 NOK	Ca. €11,000 to €23,000
NTNU Norwegian University of Science and Technology	between 150,000 NOK and 490,000 NOK depending on programme category; but mostly around 250,000 NOK	Ca. €22,000
Oslo Metropolitan University	190,000 to 370,000 NOK	Ca. €17,000 to €33,000
University of Agder	130,000 to 380,000 NOK	Ca. €11,000 to €34,000
University of Bergen	190,000 to 380,000 NOK	Ca. €17,000 to €34,000
University of Oslo	180,000 to 260,000 NOK	Ca. €16,000 to €23,000
University of Stavanger	125,000 to 150,000 NOK	Ca. €11,000 to €13,000
Western Norway University of Applied Sciences	160,000 to 260,000 NOK	Ca. €14,000 to €23,000

The ranges are quite broad, and the exact fee levels relate to the subject. Bachelors and Masters in Business or Languages are cheapest; Bachelors and Masters in Engineering and IT are more expensive; and the most expensive programmes are those in Medicine or in creative subjects like Design or Music.

(All of the above are tuition-free for European students who are citizens of the EU, EEA, or Switzerland.)

💰 Are there scholarships for international students?

Norway is not an affordable country for international students. Due to the high living costs, it can be quite expensive to get your education even if you do not have to pay the fees that apply to non-European students.

Scholarships might be an option to finance your studies. However, neither the Norwegian government nor most individual universities offer any scholarship schemes for international students. In most cases, you have to find other grants or other ways of financing your studies, such as through loans.

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💳 High cost of living:

Norway’s universities might be tuition-free for European students, but even then the cost of living is quite high – and a lot higher than pretty much anywhere else in Europe. If you’re mainly interested in Norway because you’d have to pay fees elsewhere, be aware that all in all, studying in Norway might still be more expensive than your other options.

The currency in Norway is the Norwegian krone (NOK). To be granted a student visa, you will have to demonstrate that you have enough funds to live on – at least 137,907 per academic year (about €12,500). However, your actual cost of living is likely to be higher. It’s worth checking with your institution, which should be able to give you an estimate of how much you will need. For example, the University of Bergen estimates that international students need an average of ca. 13,000 NOK a month.

One extreme cost factor in Norway is accommodation. If you were to look for your own one-bedroom apartment in for example Oslo, you would easily expect to pay more than 1,000 euros per month. But if you manage to secure university-sponsored accommodation through the student organisation, and if you save money where you can, the local universities estimate you can get by on monthly budgets like these, depending on city:

• Oslo: ca. 11,500 NOK / 1,120 EUR per month for rent, food, and everything else
• Bergen: ca. 13,000 NOK / 1,270 EUR
• Stavanger: ca. 12,000 NOK / 1,170 EUR
• Trondheim: ca. 12,300 NOK / 1,200 EUR

💪 Can I work while studying at a university in Norway?

International students can work part-time in Norway. Students from the EU/EEA and Switzerland don’t have any restrictions. All other international students have to follow a few rules: A study permit automatically gives you permission to work part-time, but only for up to 20 hours a week and full-time during holidays.

🌍 Alternative countries to consider:

If you love Scandinavia but Norway is out of reach financially, you should also consider universities in:

• Sweden (guide on tuition fees)
• Finland (guide on tuition fees)
• Denmark (guide on tuition fees)

All of them have similar fees for non-European students but at a lower cost of living.

If you are mainly looking for countries that have low or no tuition fees and affordable cost of living, consider looking at universities in:

• Germany (where public universities are generally tuition-free for all students)
• Austria (where public universities charge around 1,500 euros per year)
• Poland (tuition fees are relatively low, and cost of living lower than e.g. Germany)

 

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