Northern European countries, like Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland, are becoming popular new destinations for International students looking to further their educations overseas. The main draws of Scandinavia are that many people have good command of English and some university classes are taught in English.
Many students are attracted by northern European countries’ policies of not charging tuition for university study and the relatively easy procedures for getting student visas.
But some things can be a bit rotten in Norway and the rest of northern Europe for International students. For one, costs of living are high and language can be a real hurdle.
Language difficulties
Every country in northern Europe has its own language. Some sound very similar, but then there’s Finnish, which is from a whole other linguistic family.
Getting a head start on learning a Scandinavian language can be important to success studying there, but it’s hard to do so in your country. While English is used at some universities in northern Europe, it is not used for all classes, and most universities require foreign students pass language tests in the local tongue. That can be an insurmountable obstacle for many international students.
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High costs
Zero tuition payments can make an education in northern Europe sound like a steal. But in reality, studying in Scandinavia can be a heavy financial burden because of the high costs of living in those countries. Cities in the five countries of northern Europe – Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland – have ranked tops in the world in terms of living expenses in United Nations studies for several years running.
False information
Many agencies trick students into going to northern Europe by using inaccurate translations of school names.
In many countries, a college is a school that offers undergraduate education. But in northern Europe, colleges are schools for professional education and do not offer bachelor’s degree certification nor provide the same quality of education as universities.
Many International students have been duped into enrolling in northern European colleges and shelling out a lot of money for a disappointing education. Do not be fooled.