Acceptable standard
UHR decides whether a post-secondary level programme abroad meets acceptable standards. Here you can read more about how UHR makes this assessment.
CSN uses UHR's decision regarding acceptable standard as the basis for decisions on whether a course/programme at the post-secondary level abroad should be approved for student financing.
If you have questions about student financing for studies abroad, contact CSN.
Find contact information on CSN's website
Questions about recognised courses/programmes
If you're wondering if a course/programme is recognised or not, you can start by searching for information at various official education websites. You can also consult the website of the respective country's ministry of education, or equivalent. If you can't find the information, you can contact the Swedish Council for Higher Education.
Send an email to the Swedish Council for Higher Education at godtagbarstandard@uhr.se
Grounds for determining acceptable standards
The basic requirement stated in the regulations is that the course/programme must be:
- recognised in the country of study, and
- subjected to quality control through a national education authority, a regional education authority or through an established accreditation organisation.
UHR assesses the type of organisation responsible for the recognition. If the course/programme (or the school as a whole) does not have direct recognition from one of these institutions, the course/programme can still be considered to have an acceptable standard if it is included as part of an exchange program at a Swedish university.
Studies in the Nordic region
If you want to study in another Nordic country, the course should be under state supervision and equivalent or comparable to a course that provides eligibility for student financing in Sweden.
Studies outside the Nordic region
If you want to study outside the Nordic region, the course should be recognised by the country’s education authority.
Additional requirements for France, Great Britain and the US
In addition to the requirement that the course must be recognised by the state or the country’s education authorities, there are additional requirements for France, the US and Great Britain.
France
For private schools in France (and quite a few other countries), both the school and the course/programme must be recognised and lead to a qualification (diploma) that is recognised by the state.
Great Britain
For the United Kingdom, courses/programmes are approved in schools that are so-called "recognised bodies" and "listed bodies". Information on both of these types of schools is available on the UK Department for Education's website.
Read more at the UK's Department for Education's website.
Programmes leading to at least a Higher National Diploma can be approved.
Find out more about approved dance, drama and musical theatre programmes in the UK.
USA
The course/programme must be regionally or professionally accredited. There are two different types of accreditation:
- Institutional Accreditation
- Professional/Specialised Accreditation
Institutional Accreditation
Institutional accreditation is an approval of the college or university as a whole. It may be regional or national. Most large US universities have regional accreditation.
Regional accreditation institutes
The US has no central authority that recognises universities, courses and programmes. Instead, there are different accreditation organisations. UHR approves a number of regional accreditation organisations, but not all. UHR generally does not assess course and programmes from higher education institutions with only national accreditation.
Search engines for accredited universities in the United States
There are two search engines for all accredited universities in the United States (including universities with national and professional/programme-based accreditation).
Search the database at the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA)
The Swedish Council for Higher Education’s (UHR) regulations
The Swedish Council for Higher Education’s (UHR) regulations (UHRFS 2013:10) state the requirements a course must fulfil to be of an acceptable standard. They only apply to studies outside the Nordic region. As a first step, UHR examines whether the course is recognised by the educational authority in that country.