NARIC guide on Higher Education Systems in the European Union

The multifaculty universities are the:
University of Copenhagen
University of Aarhus
Odense University
Roskilde University
Aalborg University.
The specialised universities include the:
Technical University of Denmark
Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University
Royal Danish School of Pharmacy
Copenhagen Business School
Aarhus School of Business
Southern Denmark Business School
Royal Danish School of Educational Studies
Royal Danish Academy of Fine Art
Schools of Architecture and Visual Art
Aarhus School of Architecture
Royal Danish Academy of Music
Royal Academy of Music, Aarhus.
The Royal School of Librarianship, the Danish School of Journalism and the Danish State Institute of Physical Education do
not belong to the university sector proper as they do not offer doctoral programmes, but they award degrees both at Bachelor
and Master levels. This gives them a
status between the university and the college sector.
The college sector
As well as the universities, over 100 colleges across the country offer higher education courses. Most are rather small,
specialised institutions (400 to 600 students) offering only one or a few study programmes in a particular professional field.
Some of these courses qualify students at the same level as the Bachelor’s or comparable degrees, for example those offered
by engineering colleges, colleges of education and regional
business schools. In other countries some of these courses are offered by the universities, but in Denmark they have
traditionally been offered by the specialised colleges. Some of the courses include practical training.
Most teachers at these colleges have academic degrees. The teachers have no obligation to carry out research as in the
university sector. However, very often these institutions are engaged in theoretical and practical developmental work, and
many of them participate in international cooperation, for example, through the EC mobility programmes.
The general admission requirements to these institutions are normally the same as for the universities, i.e. the Danish
studentereksamen (upper secondary school leaving certificate) or an equivalent national or foreign qualification.
The college sector is mainly State-financed.
The college sector includes the following institutions among others:
Colleges of education (lærerseminarier)
Colleges for art, crafts, textile and fashion design (håndarbejds- og sløjdskoler)
Colleges of educator training (pædagogseminarier)
Schools of social work (sociale højskoler)
Colleges of engineering (teknika/ingeniørhøjskoler)
Regional business schools (handelshøjskoleafdelinger)