Young people are choosing degree programmes suited to the business community
SDU is welcoming 5,470 new students who have just been told that they have been admitted to the University. That is six percent more than last year, and the vocational and business-oriented programmes are the most popular
“There are good employment figures for the programmes that have grown this year. These are the science, engineering, business economics and health science programmes”, says Head of Studies Morten Hansen of the University of Southern Denmark.
The University of Southern Denmark has admitted more students in fields that are in particular demand in society. At the same time admissions to higher education programmes in general have increased in the Region of Southern Denmark. Morten Hansen sees this as a very positive development.
“Compared to the rest of the country, there is an educational gap in the Region of Southern Denmark. For example, it’s one of the Danish regions with the fewest academics. But it seems we’re making some gains now. It is gratifying that the higher education programmes in the region are growing this year. Admissions in the region have increased by five percent, which is almost the same as the increase at the University of Southern Denmark. The University thus reflects the educational boost the Region of Southern Denmark is experiencing this year”, he says.
While the Region of Southern Denmark is seeing a five percent increase in admissions, the Capital Region reports a two percent reduction. The higher education institutions in the regions of Central Jutland, Zealand and Northern Jutland have admitted two, four and three percent more students than in 2013 respectively.
This year’s top scorers at the University of Southern Denmark are the natural science programmes. While four percent fewer students have been admitted to the Faculty of Humanities, 17 percent more have been admitted to the Faculty of Science. This figure includes an increase of 33 percent in Computer Science.
The Technical Faculty has enrolled 12 percent more students, the Faculty of Social Sciences 11 percent more, and the Faculty of Health Sciences 10 percent more.
This year the University of Southern Denmark saw a higher growth in first-priority applications than in the number of admitted students. This reflects the fact that SDU has sought to limit admissions in fields with less favourable employment figures to make room for growth in other areas.
In the coming years the University of Southern Denmark will continue to focus on educating more students in fields where graduates are in demand. Thus the University continues to work on cutting back on programmes in fields where the labour market is saturated, and we expect further reductions in these fields in the coming years.
Looking across the University of Southern Denmark’s different campuses, the following picture emerges: there are 16 percent more admissions in Sønderborg, nine percent more in Slagelse, six percent more in Odense, four percent more in Esbjerg and five percent fewer in Kolding.