What is the current landscape of Nordic peripheral higher education? 

”We are a municipality of 1,800 inhabitants. Those who were educated with us often choose to stay, or they come from small communities and remain in small communities. Over time, those who chose to work in such places have made a significant difference.”
(NESNA municipality, Norway) 

Map 1 shows the distribution of higher education campuses across the Nordic region in 2023-2024, categorized by type of institution and student numbers, revealing a broad geographical spread with noticeable sparsity in the northernmost parts of Sweden and Finland. The higher education landscape comprises both universities and university colleges, with university colleges being more prevalent in Denmark and Finland. Notably, Finland features university consortia—collaborative networks that operate regional campuses through several universities. UiT The Arctic University of Norway and VIA University College in Denmark have the largest number of campuses, each operating 10 sites.

The number of students at these campuses varies significantly, from as few as 10 at some smaller campuses in Norway and Finland to over ten thousand at larger sites. This disparity is mainly attributed to whether campuses are located in urban or rural areas and the variety of academic programs they offer. Additionally, variations in the methods used to count students at national and organisational levels also account for these differences.