General degree awarding powers of universities and university colleges
Universities in Sweden have general degree awarding powers at first cycle (university diplomas and Bachelors' degrees), second cycle (one-year and two-year Masters' degrees) and third cycle (licentiate and doctoral degrees). University colleges have degree awarding powers at first cycle and for one-year Masters' programmes. A small number have the right to award two-year Masters' degrees and third cycle degrees in a single disciplinary domain.
Applying for further degree awarding powers
A university college must apply to Högskoleverket (Swedish National Agency for Higher Education) for the entitlement to award two-year Masters' degrees. All HEIs must apply to the Swedish National Agency for Higher Education (Agency) for the entitlement to award professional or vocational degrees.
Independent and self-governing HEIs must apply to the Agency for the entitlement to award all first and second cycle degrees.
Find out which qualifications higher education institutions are entitled to award
The degree-awarding powers of the different higher education institutions have been listed in a database. Here you can search to see which qualifications each higher education institution is entitled to award. You can also find out which higher education institutions are entitled to award specific qualifications and which particular qualifications any single higher education institution is entitled to award.Only in Swedish
This database is only available in Swedish. You can find translations of Swedish terms in our Swedish-English word list for the higher education sector, (opens in new window).Here you can find a list of higher education institutions, (opens in new window).