NEWS Umeå University is top three in Sweden on the number of qualified first choice applicants to this autumn’s courses and programmes. This according to statistics from the Swedish Council for Higher Education (UHR).
The total number of qualified first choice applicants for this autumn semester is 326,386 in Sweden, which is a reduction of 1.5 per cent compared to autumn 2017. At the same time as the national total number of first choice applicants has decreased, Umeå University is experiencing an increase of 3.1 per cent this autumn.
Among the Swedish universities, only Karlstad University, Linnaeus University, Luleå University of Technology and Umeå University have more qualified first choice applicants for autumn 2018 compared to autumn 2017.
"It has positive effects for Umeå University to attract many first choice applicants since it results in us admitting students that actually choose to study in Umeå. A high proportion of first choice applicants adds stability and more students are likely to complete their degrees. This autumn, only Stockholm University and Uppsala University have a higher number of first choice applicants than Umeå University," says Heidi Hansson, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Umeå University with responsibility for education.
Overall in Sweden, a total of 279,221 students have been admitted to studies for the autumn term 2018, which is an increase by 2.1 per cent compared to autumn 2017. Umeå University has increased the number of admitted students by 0.3 per cent compared to autumn 2017. Also in this aspect, Umeå University comes in third place in the nation, after Uppsala University and Stockholm University. Both regarding the total number of qualified first choice applicants and the number of admitted students, Umeå University has passed the University of Gothenburg for autumn 2018.
When it comes to study programmes, the number of qualified first choice applicants reached 150,393 in total in Sweden, which is a decrease by 5.8 per cent compared to autumn 2017. In parallel, the number of applicants to study programmes at Umeå University decreased by 2.8 per cent compared to autumn 2017. The number of admitted students to study programmes at Umeå University decreased by 2.1 per cent compared to autumn 2017, which is to be compared with a national average of 2.8 per cent.
"The number of applicants always fluctuates depending on the size of the age group, but also other factors such as the labour market play a part. Even if the number of first choice applicants to programmes in particular has decreased somewhat, Umeå University is still proving stabile when it comes to applicants per place," says Heidi Hansson