By and large, Sweden is the friendliest country for international students in Europe. Although vast in territory, this 9.5-million country is sparsely populated with most of the people living in the capital, Stockholm, and in the other big cities along the coast.

Close to 89% of the Swedes speak English, so the language barrier should not be an issue. In this article, we will be looking at the universities in Sweden with a high acceptance rate.

Higher education in Sweden is free for local students and their peers from the EU and the European Economic Area, but even the recently introduced tuition fees for non-EU citizens are quite affordable.

With this information in mind, it is not surprising that there are so many applicants to study in one of Sweden’s fifty-three state universities every year. But how many of them are admitted? Read on to find out!

Is It Easy to Get Admitted to Universities in Sweden?

Even though it highly depends on which program you want to apply for, the answer is yes since many international applications are received by educational boards of Swedish universities. However, as an international student, you will be charged tuition fees for your undergraduate programs and master ‘s-level courses, which will lighten your purse quite a bit.

See Also: Affordable Universities in Sweden for International Students

Which University in Sweden Has the Highest Acceptance Rate?

The university in Sweden with the highest acceptance rate is Uppsala University with an estimated acceptance rate of 80%. Being at the forefront of international collaboration between Sweden and the rest of the world, this institution welcomes countless international students into its student body.

Check Also: Programs in Europe for International Students

Universities in Sweden with High Rates of Acceptance

1. Uppsala University

It is said that the University of Uppsala was established more than five centuries ago, back in 1477. Now, this information may be true, but the important thing is that this is one of the oldest and best-reputed higher education centers in the whole of Scandinavia.

Uppsala University is the alma mater of fifteen Nobel Prize laureates and for this reason, it currently has over 40,000 students with a good number coming from non-EU countries. They can choose from more than 50 Master’s programs taught in the English language. With a high acceptance rate of almost 80%, this university in Sweden is the most welcoming in the whole of Scandinavia!

2. Malmö University

Come to Malmö University if you want to experience the true potential of Sweden’s latest and most innovative trends in higher education. The university currently has thousands of full-time students and about 12 percent are from abroad.

The most popular Master’s programs taught in the English language that the university offers are Criminology, Biomedical Surface Science, and International Migration & Ethnic Relations. The last one is especially topical in the context of the continuing wave of economic migrants to the EU that has presented certain challenges to the Swedish economy and the people.

Since its establishment in 1998, the university has emphasized the development of humanities and social sciences in the service of the local community. Having in mind that the garage GPA for acceptance at Malmo University is just 2.5 out of 4, we estimate that this is a university in Sweden with a high acceptance rate of 30-35%.

See Also: Best English-Taught Universities in Sweden

3. Lund University

This is one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in Sweden – its roots go back in time to 1666. Today, it’s the most popular choice of international students in Sweden with more than 100 Master’s programs taught in the English language.

The university has campuses in three of Sweden’s most beautiful cities – Helsingborg, Ljungbyhed, and Malmö, while the main campus in Lund is only 40 minutes away by car from the International Airport in Copenhagen. Lund University offers over 70 undergraduate and about 200 Master’s programs. The most popular ones are in the fields of Engineering, Medicine, and Theology. After a thorough analysis of the latest available statistical data, we could estimate its average admission rate at about 34%.

4. Stockholm University

As usual, let us start our review with a university located in Sweden’s capital city. Stockholm University was founded in 1878. Today, all of its students receive very special treatment from the faculty members with the academic focus being on the development of critical thinking, analytical skills, and strong problem-solving capabilities.

In 2018, over 72,000 students from 155 different countries filed applications to study at the University of Stockholm, with the Bachelor’s program in International Business and Politics being the most preferred undergraduate option.

By analyzing statistical information for admission, we estimated that this university in Sweden has a high average acceptance rate of 24%

Learn More About Studying for a Bachelor’s in Sweden

5. University of Gothenburg

The University of Gothenburg is a relatively large university, established in 1891 in one of Sweden’s best cities to study in, Gothenburg. It seems that this university is very popular with its Bachelor’s program in Metal Art and Wood-oriented Furniture & Design.

In 2018, the number of international full-time students at the university was just under 19,000 and 12% of them were from abroad.

One of the most popular Master’s programs taught in English is Ancient and Medieval Philosophy and Classical Philology. The academic focus of this university is on providing qualified specialists for the Swedish industry with many of the guest-lecturers hailing from international giants such as Volvo, SKF, and Stena.

This is a selective university – the TOEFL admission score is over 90% and the one for IELTS stands at 6.5 out of 7. Based on this information, we estimated that this university’s average admission rate is between 10 and 12 percent.

6. Karolinska Institute

We end our list of universities in Sweden with high acceptance rates with Karolinska Institute. Established in 1810 in Solna near Stockholm, Karolinska Institute is one of the best places to study medicine in Europe and the whole world. The most popular undergraduate programs are in Human Medicine, Psychology, Dentistry, and Midwifery, to name a few.

Thousands of students have earned the privilege to study at the Karolinska Institute and 20% of them are from outside Sweden. The international students that come to this medical university in Sweden can choose from various Master’s and Bachelor’s programs taught in the English language. This is a competitive school with an average admission rate of about 4%.

Conclusion

On the whole, there is little information on the average acceptance rates of the universities in Sweden that is available in English language sources. We, therefore, had to apply our best judgment and estimate the average acceptance rates of some of the higher schools reviewed above based on average GPA, TOEFL, or IELTS scores, etc. As you get ready for your journey in one of these universities, make sure to check out our guide about studying and living costs in Sweden to prepare your finances and make the best out of your stay here.

 

We hope that this article on the universities in Sweden with high acceptance rates was helpful. If you are interested in learning more about studying in Europe, visit the Europe Scholarships Page!

About the Author: Hyun Lee

Hyun is the founder at Global Scholarships. He has received a full-tuition scholarship at Birmingham-Southern College as well as $1,000 Burger King Scholarship for his undergraduate degree and has been offered a fully funded scholarship consisting of tuition, living stipend, and health insurance for computer science Ph.D. program at North Carolina State University. Read more about his scholarship journey here.

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