Territorial Review Copenhagen - Region Hovedstaden

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exams. This system gives universities a stake in making sure that their
students succeed in their studies. Universities with motivated and qualified
students who complete their studies and pass their exams in the prescribed
period of time obtain the highest grants.
The key challenges facing Copenhagen‘s human capital formation can
however only be addressed by addressing the question of the grants system
for students. As mentioned earlier, higher education in Denmark is free and
students are awarded grants to support their living costs for a maximum of
six years. Students are not obliged to start their higher education studies
immediately after secondary school. This leads to considerable delays before
students start their education, and results in graduation at a relatively late
age. The result is a shorter period of availability on the labour market in
comparison with other OECD countries, and increased dropout rates. Since
the grants offer students support for a longer period than is strictly necessary
to finish a course of study, many are tempted to take additional courses,
which can arguably be considered education consumption rather than an
investment in skills that are in demand on the labour market. As education is
free, students have fewer incentives to choose a study that correlates with
labour market needs.
Denmark‘s generous grant system and free education discourage
international mobility. For a person who has studied in Denmark, it pays to
move abroad and work in a country that has lower tax rates for high-income
earners. For highly skilled foreigners, Denmark‘s high marginal taxes could
be especially unattractive considering the large tuition debts they may have
accumulated from studies at top US universities (OECD, 2006). This places
Copenhagen at a disadvantage by comparison with other OECD
metropolitan areas.
Despite many laudable efforts, universities in Copenhagen could do
more to stimulate the global outlook of their student population. Several
universities have attempted to increase accessibility for foreign students.
The University of Copenhagen, for example, offers more than 500
individual courses in English at either bachelor (BA) or master (MA) level
each semester. These courses are open to Danish and international students
in all of their eight faculties. The IT University of Copenhagen offers
interaction with Chinese students. In general, however, universities in
Copenhagen have not engaged in strategic global interactions to attract new
international students. There are few joint studies with renowned foreign
universities or institutes in emerging markets.
Further co-operation within the Øresund Region, via the Øresund
University, could prove beneficial. The university is a voluntary
organisation of 14 higher education institutions in the Øresund Region,