Times Higher Education has released its latest European Rankings. The recent years have seen a steady increase in the teaching quality and research in Scandinavian countries, especially in Finland and Sweden. The developments can also be noticed in the results for this year’s top 200 European university rankings.
Find Masters in Scandinavian countries
Top 15 universities in Scandinavian countries
Here are the best 11 Scandinavian universities featured in the top 200 European universities by Times Higher Education Rankings 2021. The first 12 of these universities are actually present in the top 100, confirming the high-quality education, research and services universities provide to their students.
- Karolinska Institute - Sweden
- University of Copenhagen - Denmark
- University of Helsinki - Finland
- Lund University - Sweden
- Aarhus University - Denmark
- Uppsala University - Sweden
- University of Oslo - Norway
- Stockholm University - Sweden
- Technical University of Denmark - Denmark
- University of Gothenburg - Sweden
Other Scandinavian universities ranked 200-250
- Aalborg University - Denmark
- Aalto University - Finland
- University of Bergen - Norway
- Chalmers University of Technology - Sweden
- Copenhagen Business School - Denmark
- KTH Royal Institute of Technology - Sweden
See complete lists of ranked universities and colleges below, according to World University Rankings 2021, QS Rankings 2022 and other prestigious rankings:
- Best universities in Sweden
- Best universities in Norway
- Best universities in Denmark
- Best universities in Finland
Why are Scandinavian universities internationally successful?
Education industry analysts agree that the success of Scandinavian higher education (especially Finland and Sweden) is due to a number of key factors:
- Strong degree courses at both undergraduate and graduate levels can be found in most Finnish universities, resulting in good overall reputation.
- For a non-Anglophone country, Sweden has a high level of English language skills - an advantage when it comes to publishing research papers.
- Universities and colleges offer education and conduct research with practical applications in mind, forming a strong bond with communities.
- Free tuition for most European students, with 85% of funding for Swedish higher education coming from the government.
- Institutions are relatively free to determine their own organisational structures, deciding on their own how to allocate their budget.
- Cooperation between universities, including the use of joint research facilities. The majority of research students are employees and members of the academic community.
- Most universities in Scandinavian countries maintain strong industry connections. A good example is Swedish higher education, with links to companies like Ericsson, AstraZeneca, Tetra Pak, Alfa Laval, power firm ABB, Volvo or Saab Group.
- Generous investment in research from governments.
Check out what current students at some of these universities and colleges have to say about their study experience:
