You can study in Norway as an international student, but the route depends on what you want to study and where you are from. Bachelor's degrees taught in Norwegian go through one national application service. English-taught degrees and master's programmes go through each institution. And if you come from outside the EU/EEA and Switzerland, you pay tuition and you need a residence permit.
Here is how it fits together, in the order you will actually deal with it.
First, work out which application route you are on
There are two doors into Norwegian higher education, and picking the wrong one wastes months.
Door one: Norwegian-taught bachelor's degrees. These are coordinated by the Norwegian Universities and Colleges Admission Service, usually called NUCAS or Samordna opptak. It handles undergraduate admission at all universities, state university colleges and some private university colleges.
Door two: everything else. Bachelor's degrees taught in English are handled through each institution's own system. Master's and other postgraduate programmes are not part of NUCAS at all, so you apply directly to the institution and follow the process described on its website.
Most bachelor's programmes in Norway are taught in Norwegian, so if you only speak English, door two is usually your door. You can browse options in our programme directory to see what is taught in English.
The general entrance requirement: GSU
Every applicant needs the Higher Education Entrance Qualification, known as GSU. For foreign education, the GSU list sets out what counts for your country.
The list matters because it is not the same everywhere. For some countries, finishing primary and secondary school is enough. For others, you need one or two years of higher education from your home country after upper secondary, and that programme has to be recognised and from a recognised institution.
Two things to keep in mind. First, individual programmes can add their own requirements on top, for example in technical and artistic subjects, so read the programme page. Second, the list was last updated on 15 March 2023, and a few countries were revised in December 2025, so check your country entry rather than relying on what a friend told you.
You do not need to have your education formally approved by the Directorate for Higher Education and Skills (HK-dir) before you apply. If you already hold such an approval, you can upload it with your application.
Language: what you have to document
Your language requirement follows the language you will be taught in.
Degrees taught in English
You document your English according to the requirements set by the institution. Study in Norway warns that accepted tests and required scores can vary from institution to institution, and sometimes from programme to programme. So use the programme's own requirement, not a general one you found online.
For its Norwegian-taught undergraduate programmes, NUCAS publishes a minimum English requirement, which gives you a sense of what is accepted. It includes IELTS Academic at 5.0, TOEFL iBT at 60 points (3.5 on the new scale for tests taken after 21 January 2026), PTE Academic at 51, Cambridge B2 First or higher, and telc English at B2. NUCAS must be able to verify your test result, and if it cannot, you have to take a new test.
Degrees taught in Norwegian
If you want to study in Norwegian, you must document Norwegian. NUCAS accepts several routes, including Norwegian from Norwegian upper secondary school, level 3 of Norwegian for International Students at a Norwegian university or university college, or B2 or C1 in all four skills on HK-dir's Norwegian Language Test. If you are from Denmark or Sweden, documented Danish or Swedish may be sufficient.
Want to learn some Norwegian before you arrive? Study in Norway points to NTNU's free online course NoW, the University of Oslo's course on FutureLearn and its six-week International Summer School, and short or one-year programmes in Norwegian or Scandinavian languages at USN, UiT and Volda University College.
Master's degrees: what they expect from you
For a master's you need a bachelor's degree comparable to a Norwegian bachelor's, which means 180 ECTS. It must be issued by an officially recognised and accredited university.
There is a subject rule too. Your degree must include courses equal to at least one and a half years of full-time study in a subject relevant to the master's programme you are applying for. Some programmes also require a minimum grade average.
Because postgraduate admission sits outside NUCAS, the application process, documents and dates are all on the institution's own pages. If you are unsure whether your degree will be accepted, ask the institution directly. HK-dir handles general recognition of foreign degrees and offers an automatic recognition statement for certain degrees from selected countries, but it is the institution that decides what it wants from you.
Deadlines: there is no single national date
Norway does not have one deadline for international applicants. Each institution publishes dates for each programme, and they can differ depending on your citizenship or residence.
The one date worth memorising is NUCAS's deadline for most applicants to Norwegian-taught programmes: 15 April. Results of spring exams must be uploaded by 1 July, and school leavers must submit their leaving certificate before that date. The result of your application is posted to your account on 20 July.
Scholarship deadlines can be tied to admission. BI Norwegian Business School, for example, requires a master's scholarship application to be uploaded with the admission application by 1 March. Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters set their own dates on each programme's website. Check our scholarships page for funding routes, but always confirm the date on the institution's own page.
What it costs, and who pays
Higher education is free of charge for students from the EU/EEA and Switzerland. If you come from outside the EU/EEA and Switzerland, you normally pay tuition fees as a degree student, and the amount varies by institution. Some students are exempt because of residence in Norway or another close connection to Norway, so check your own situation with the institution you are applying to.
On top of tuition, you have to show you can support yourself. The figure for the 2026/27 year is NOK 170,368, and tuition comes on top if you pay it. Our page on tuition fees explains how the charges work.
Two more practical items. Check your health cover with NAV under the national insurance scheme. And apply for housing early, because the student welfare organisations run waiting lists.
Residence permit and working while you study
Students from outside the EU/EEA and Switzerland apply to UDI for a residence permit after they are admitted. Start on our residence permit page and then follow UDI's own rules, because the authority decides your case, not us.
Work rules differ by citizenship:
- EU/EEA and Swiss citizens can work as much as they like alongside their studies. Nordic citizens can too.
- Everyone else gets permission to work part-time automatically with a study permit: up to 20 hours a week during the semester, including remote work, and full-time during holidays. You cannot be self-employed.
Studying is the main purpose of your stay, and your permit can be revoked if you work more than it allows. Everyone who works in Norway needs a Norwegian identification number, a tax deduction card and a Norwegian bank account. Vacancies are listed in the NAV job database, mostly in Norwegian, and many institutions run career centres and job portals.
An internship that is part of your programme normally earns study credits. One that is not part of your programme may need a different residence permit from a student permit, so ask before you sign anything.
Exchange, then graduation
If you come as an exchange student, you apply to your home university to be nominated. Your home university knows which agreements it has with Norwegian institutions and what their deadlines are. Most agreements allow a stay of three months to a year, and Norwegian institutions usually offer a wider choice of English-language courses to exchange students than the general programme list shows. Exchange students are normally exempt from tuition fees at public institutions, and the same study permit rules apply if you stay three months or longer.
After you graduate, Study in Norway says you can stay in Norway for up to one year to look for work. If you hold a study permit, you can under certain conditions apply for a job seeker permit for up to a year. Citizens from outside the EU/EEA and Switzerland may also apply for a work visa for skilled workers once they find a relevant job. Check UDI's conditions while you are still studying, not after your permit expires.
Quick comparison of the two routes
| Norwegian-taught bachelor's | English-taught bachelor's and master's | |
|---|---|---|
| Who handles it | NUCAS (Samordna opptak) | The institution itself |
| Main deadline | 15 April for most applicants | Set by each institution and programme |
| Language you document | Norwegian and English | English, per the institution's requirement |
| Entrance basis | GSU plus language requirements | GSU for bachelor's; a 180 ECTS bachelor's for master's |
One last thing. Admission is competitive, and at many programmes there are more qualified applicants than places, so you are ranked against other applicants. Treat the programme page as the source of truth, and if a number you need is not there, ask the institution rather than guessing.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to pay tuition to study in Norway as an international student?
Higher education is free of charge for students from the EU/EEA and Switzerland. Students from outside the EU/EEA and Switzerland normally pay tuition fees as degree students, and the amount varies by institution. Some students are exempt because of residence in Norway or another close connection to Norway, so check with the institution you are applying to.
What is the application deadline for studying in Norway?
There is no single national deadline for international applicants; each institution publishes dates for each programme. For Norwegian-taught undergraduate programmes, NUCAS sets 15 April as the deadline for most applicants, with results posted on 20 July. English-taught and master's programmes follow the institution's own dates.
Can I work while studying in Norway?
EU/EEA and Swiss citizens can work as much as they like alongside their studies. If you are from outside those areas, a study permit automatically gives you permission to work part-time for up to 20 hours a week during the semester, including remote work, and full-time during holidays. You cannot be self-employed.
How much money do I need to show to get a student residence permit in Norway?
You must show you can support yourself, and the figure for the 2026/27 year is NOK 170,368, with tuition on top if you pay it. Students from outside the EU/EEA and Switzerland apply to UDI after admission. Check UDI's own page for the current requirement, because the authority decides your case.