Higher education in Denmark is offered by a range of universities, university colleges, business academies and specialised institutions. The national higher education system is in accordance with the Bologna process, with bachelor’s degrees (first cycle, three years), master’s degrees (second cycle, two years) and doctoral degrees (third cycle, three years). The majority of higher education institutions are the responsibility of the Ministry of Higher Education and Science (Denmark), however, some higher education institutions within the arts are the responsibility of the Ministry of Culture.

Admission

The general entry requirement for acceptance to higher education is a Danish upper secondary school leaving certificate or equivalent. Individual programmes also have specific entry requirements, such as mathematics at a specific level, and language requirements in Danish or English or both. Admission at first cycle programmes in Denmark is coordinated centrally by the Ministry of Higher Education and Science.^[2] Admission to master’s programmes and doctoral programmes is done at each individual university.

Structure and grading

Higher education in Denmark is structured according to the ECTS. A normal study progression awards 60 ECTS-points per year (30 per semester), most institutions use a block system of either 5, 7.5 or 10 ECTS-points. Academic grading in Denmark is done according to the 7-point grading scale (Danish: 7-trins-skalaen), equalling the seven grades in the ECTS grading scale.

Institutions

Institutions of higher education in Denmark are divided into five categories: business academies, university colleges, intstitutions in architecture and art, maritime educational institutions and universities. The term university of applied sciences is not used officially.

Universities

There are eight universities in Denmark awarding bachelor degrees, master’s degrees and doctoral degrees:

• University of Copenhagen, headquartered in Copenhagen, but also has facilities in Frederiksberg, Taastrup, Helsingør, Hørsholm, and Nødebo (1479-)
• Technical University of Denmark, Kongens Lyngby (1829-)
• Copenhagen Business School, Frederiksberg (1917-)
• Aarhus University, headquartered in Aarhus, but also has facilities in Copenhagen and Herning (1928-)
• Roskilde University, Roskilde (1972-)
• Aalborg University, headquartered in Aalborg, but also has facilities in Copenhagen and Esbjerg (1974-)
• University of Southern Denmark, headquartered in Odense, but also has facilities in Kolding, Sønderborg, Esbjerg, Slagelse and Copenhagen (1998-)
• IT University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen (1999-)