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Higher education

How many students are enrolled in a higher education programme? How many people have completed a bachelor’s programme or a medium-cycle higher education programme in the course of the last year? The statistics on higher education programmes contain information on the intake and completion and gives a status on October 1st each year for the number of students in the various programmes.

Explainer on…

Higher education is based on upper secondary education or vocational education. Higher education covers short, medium, bachelor and long cycle higher education as well as Ph.D. education.

Short-cycle higher education typically has a duration of 1 to 2 years and builds upon an upper secondary education. Examples of short-cycle higher education is for instance Financial Management and Computer Science.

Medium-cycle higher education typically has a duration of 2 to 4 years and builds upon an upper secondary education. Examples of medium-cycle higher education is for instance Nursing, Teaching and Engineering.

Part one of a long cycle higher education.

Higher education that lasts 5 years in total and is typically divided into a 3-year bachelor's degree program and a 2-year master's degree program.

Selected statistics on Higher education

This page shows selected popular statistics on the subject of Higher education. In Statbank Denmark, you can find more data and compile your own statistics.

Students enrolled in a higher education programme

The figure shows the number of students enrolled in higher education programmes each year (Oct 1st).

More about the figure
Last update
1.2.2024
Next update
29.1.2025
Source data

The Student Register is based on annual reports from the Danish educational institutions.

Completed higher education programmes

The figure shows how many students that have completed a higher education programme each year.
More about the figure
Last update
1.2.2024
Next update
29.1.2025
Source data

The Student Register is based on annual reports from the Danish educational institutions.

Sex and higher education programmes

The figure shows the distribution by sex among students who have completed various higher education programmes.
More about the figure
Last update
1.2.2024
Next update
29.1.2025
Source data

The Student Register is based on annual reports from the Danish educational institutions.

Activity in long-cycle higher education programmes

The figure shows the status on October 1st for the distribution of students in the different education groups of the master’s programmes.
More about the figure
Last update
31.1.2024
Next update
29.1.2025
Source data

The sources for the statistics are data from the educational institutions' administrative systems.

Activity in medium-cycle higher education programmes

The figure shows the status on October 1st for the distribution of students in the different education groups of medium-cycle higher education programmes.
More about the figure
Last update
31.1.2024
Next update
29.1.2025
Source data

The sources for the statistics are data from the educational institutions' administrative systems.

On the statistics – documentation, sources and method

Gain an overview of the purpose, contents and quality of the statistics. Learn about the data sources of the statistics, the contents of the statistics and how often they are published.

See the documentation of statistics to learn more:

Bachelor and long cycle higher education

The statistics about bachelor and long-cycle higher educations describe activity on bachelor and long-cycle higher educations in Denmark. Bachelor and long-cycle higher educations are defined from Statistics Denmark's education classification DISCED-15 as all educations classified on level 60 and 70. The levels in DISCED-15 for higher education are classified according to the main fields regulated by law. Bachelor and long-cycle higher educations are typically 3 and 2 years in duration. Bachelor and long-cycle higher educations statistics is in its current form comparable since 2005 and is part of the overall Student Register, which contains information on all students and students in ordinary education in Denmark.

Highest Education Attained

The purpose of the statistics on educational attainment is to give an overall statistical description of the educational level of the population at any given time. The primary data source to these statistics is the Student Register with data from 1970 onwards. In addition, the Qualification Register is used. Since the Student Register is the primary source for information, the Attainment Register gives nearly complete coverage from 1970 onwards. There is, however information before this time coming from The Qualification Register.

Medium-Cycle Higher Education

The statistics about medium-cycle higher education describe activity on medium-cycle higher education in Denmark. Medium-cycle higher education is defined from Statistics Denmark's education classification DISCED-15 as all education classified on level 50. The levels in DISCED-15 for higher education are classified according to the main fields regulated by law. Medium-cycle higher educations are typically 1-2 years in duration. Medium-cycle higher education statistics is in its current form comparable since 2005 and is part of the overall Student Register, which contains information on all students and students in ordinary education in Denmark.

Short-Cycle Higher Education

The statistics about short-cycle higher education describe activity on short-cycle higher education in Denmark. Short-cycle higher education is defined from Statistics Denmark's education classification DISCED-15 as all education classified on level 40. The levels in DISCED-15 for higher education are classified according to the main fields regulated by law. Short-cycle higher educations are typically 1-2 years in duration. Short-cycle higher education statistics is in its current form comparable since 2005 and is part of the overall Student Register, which contains information on all pupils and students in ordinary education in Denmark.

The Student Registre

The Students Register, which was established in the early 1970's, is a longitudinal register that allow you to follow the educational careers of students in the mainline education system. The purpose of The Student Register is to analyze entrance to, enrolment in and graduation from the mainline education system as well as transmissions of student within the system.

Need more data on Higher education?

You can go on searching on your own in Statbank Denmark. Find detailed figures, for example on the distribution by ancestry, sex, age or region of residence.

Contact

Mikkel Jonasson Pedersen
Phone: +45 23 60 42 07