First, the background information about studying in Sweden

According to the statistics provided by the Ministry of Higher Education, there are 53 institutions of higher learning in Sweden, including 2/kloc-0 comprehensive universities and university-level independent colleges with the right to award doctoral degrees. 18 institutions of higher learning; Art and medical colleges 14. There are about 300,000 students in school. Sweden's national science and technology development level is leading, and the quality of higher education is high. Some universities enjoy a high reputation in Europe and even the world.

Sweden's higher education system is currently divided into two stages: undergraduate education and postgraduate education. In the undergraduate education stage, students can study for four and a half years, get 160 credits, and get a master's degree directly; Of course, students can also get a bachelor's degree after studying for three years and completing 120 credits. Because in the undergraduate education stage in Sweden, both bachelor's degree and master's degree are continuous degree education, general universities do not offer master's degree education programs separately. In recent years, some universities have set up "international master classes" for foreign students in some popular majors, such as computer, electronic technology and financial management. In Sweden, postgraduate education refers to doctoral education, and the current doctoral education system is four years. Since there are no other scientific research institutions in Sweden, all scientific research tasks in various fields in the country are undertaken by universities. Therefore, postgraduate education is closely integrated with scientific research projects, and doctoral students are paid monthly as researchers. Because of this, Swedish doctoral students have high admission conditions, fierce competition and very strict graduation requirements.

Undergraduate education in Swedish universities is generally taught in Swedish, and foreign students must pass a special Swedish exam when they enter school. English is used in the teaching and research of "international master class" and the doctoral education of foreign students.

Sweden is a high welfare country in northern Europe, and education at all levels is free. But Sweden is one of the countries with the highest prices in the EU. Doctoral students can be paid according to the treatment of scientific researchers, while undergraduates don't have to pay tuition fees, but the living expenses such as accommodation and transportation are high. According to the living expenses budget made by the Swedish Immigration Bureau for international students, the monthly living expenses of each person is about 650 euros. Among them, food is 250 euros, accommodation is 220 euros, transportation is 60 euros, and other expenses are 120 euros. Even if you scrimp and save, you need at least 500 euros a month for living expenses. In this way, the room and board fee of 6000 euros a year is very expensive. What needs to be pointed out here is that language training does not belong to formal education, so the state allows tuition. The general tuition standard varies from 400 to 600 euros per month according to the number of class hours.

People who work in Sweden without a work permit will be severely punished, so ordinary international students can't earn money by working. Foreign students are allowed to work during holidays, but job opportunities are in great demand at this time. The Swedish government has established the Swedish Academy, aiming at promoting the educational and cultural exchanges between Sweden and other countries, and granting a certain number of scholarships to foreign students studying in Sweden every year. However, due to the limited places, only a very small number of China students can do this. Other funds also offer scholarships, but the benefits are narrow. Therefore, studying in Sweden must have certain financial security.

Sweden is a small country with a population of only 9 million. Employment opportunities are very limited, and the labor market is not open to citizens of countries outside the EU, so it is very difficult to find employment in Sweden. At present, except for a few foreign students from China who have obtained permanent positions in universities or enterprises through fair competition with excellent results, most of them have returned to China or transferred to other countries after graduation.

Second, the basic situation of Swiss students studying abroad

Since the reform and opening up, nearly 5000 students studying in Switzerland have registered in the Education Office of our embassy. Considering some unregistered self-funded international students and some studying spouses, it is estimated that there are about 6,000 international students in China. In the past few years, the proportion of public and self-funded students was 50% and 50% respectively. In recent years, self-funded students have gradually become the main source of international students. Due to the particularity of Sweden's education system and the high demand for Swedish for undergraduate students, few China students studied in Sweden in the past, and most China students studied for master's or doctoral degrees here. Therefore, the overall characteristics of Swiss students studying abroad are that although the number is small, the quality of the team is high. With the rapid development of China's economic construction and the increasing international status, the patriotic enthusiasm of the students and scholars studying in Switzerland has never been higher, and they have returned to China or actively participated in service activities in various forms. Since 2000, there has been a gratifying phenomenon that the number of international students who returned to China in that year exceeded the number of international students who came to Switzerland for five consecutive years. Scholars studying in Switzerland have also made outstanding achievements in serving the western region of the country and supporting the motherland in its "anti-SARS" work.

Since the reform and opening up, most international students in Switzerland are studying for doctoral degrees, and their majors mainly involve natural science fields such as biomedicine and engineering technology. In recent years, in addition to China students applying for doctoral degrees in Switzerland through different channels, the following two forms of studying abroad have emerged:

1. study for a master's degree in related majors by participating in the "international master class". In order to conform to the trend of internationalization of education, there are currently more than 20 Swedish universities offering "international master's courses" in nearly 100 majors. Students can get a master's degree through 1-2 years of study. The above-mentioned majors are all popular subjects, with large market demand and sufficient students. For example, economics and trade, business administration, financial biology in liberal arts, electronics, computers, environment and energy in science and engineering, and some interdisciplinary subjects such as genetic information, urban planning, biodiversity, etc. are very popular in the market, and the competition for admission is fierce. In recent years, about 300 China students study in various "international master classes" in Swedish universities every year, most of whom are fresh graduates from domestic universities or people with certain work experience. The way to come to Switzerland is generally to inquire through the internet and apply for admission qualifications. This kind of students have clear learning objectives, strong self-care ability, relatively stable grades and high return rate.

2. The National Scholarship Committee (CSC) under the Ministry of Education signed a contract with Swedish universities to jointly train public master's, doctoral and postdoctoral programs. With the deepening of Sino-Swedish educational exchange and the reform of domestic public school study abroad policy, a cooperative training mode combining state public school with Swedish university funding has emerged. For example, from August 2006, the Royal Swedish Institute of Technology and CSC will jointly fund the training of 30 doctors and 30 postdocs for China every year; There are five masters and five visiting scholars each. The enrollment methods are conducted by Swiss universities and CSC respectively. Another example is Uppsala University, which cooperated with CSC in 2005 to recruit more than 20 domestic public postgraduate students, majoring in life sciences and social sciences. This year, some Swedish universities may adopt this form of cooperation to recruit students.

Third, the problems in the past and their causes.

As the social legal system in Sweden is relatively sound and the ranks of students studying in Sweden are relatively neat, the situation of studying in Sweden is relatively normal and stable. But there are also some problems. For example,

The legality of 1. degree and the rationality of charging method have caused legal disputes. According to the current education laws and regulations in Sweden, only the majors recognized by the Swedish education department and incorporated into the formal education system can issue legal degree certificates, while MBA and other business administration degrees are not incorporated into the formal education system in Sweden and belong to the non-academic education series of on-the-job training. The law also stipulates that higher education is free, but universities can charge tuition fees from companies or organizations that entrust their training, but not from individual students. During the period of 2000 -2004, the Business School of Stockholm University, together with individual illegal study agents in China, recruited MBA students in China, falsely claiming that they could be awarded master's degrees, and charged students tuition fees in various names and ways. More than 30 international students from China participated in it. Later, because of the exposure of the prosecution of international students, the media also caused an uproar. After the incident, the Swedish Higher Education Administration severely criticized the college and ordered it to correct its mistakes. The early warning website for studying abroad of the Ministry of Education also promptly notified to remind domestic students to beware of being deceived. Finally, with the joint efforts of all parties concerned, the legitimacy of China's foreign students' degrees was properly solved, the dean of the college was dismissed, and the college stopped its enrollment activities in China.

2. Students from Switzerland don't know enough about the qualifications of the schools they attend, and their understanding of "pre-university" is not comprehensive enough. According to the current regulations, foreign students must pass the Swedish national examination before they can enter universities. Any language training is just a way to improve one's language level, which has nothing to do with college entrance. Even in the preparatory classes held by regular universities, students can only be formally admitted to universities after receiving a certain degree of language training and passing the exam. However, some students are deceived because they listen to the one-sided propaganda of the intermediary and lack understanding of the qualifications of the school that pays high fees.

For example, Myra Darren College, which is more than 0/00 km north of Stockholm, cooperated with Renmin University, an adult education institution that provides language training, and began to recruit China high school graduates to learn Swedish from 200 1. Among the more than 60 international students from China who came to Switzerland in several batches, many of them had to go back to China or transfer to other places because of learning difficulties or unable to obtain visa extension. During the language training, in addition to accommodation and meals, students have to pay 600 euros of tuition every month. In 2003, in the remote town of Dallas Rand, more than 400 kilometers south of Stockholm, a registered company mainly engaged in language training cooperated with a domestic intermediary company to recruit nearly 20 students aged 19-28 from China to learn Swedish as "pre-university students". During the study period, students have to pay about 800 euros a month for tuition and accommodation, and also take care of their own meals. Because the company was not a regular school recognized by the Swedish education department, it did not have good conditions for running a school, and finally it died.

3. China students are not prepared for the difficulties of learning Swedish. Swedish and English belong to Germanic language family, but their grammar and pronunciation rules are completely different. It is very difficult to take the Swedish exam for college entrance. It is said that it is not easy for students majoring in Swedish in the fourth grade of Beijing Foreign Studies University to pass the exam. However, the English level of high school graduates in China is still average, so it is very difficult to make Swedish meet the requirements of the college entrance examination in one or two years. Only a few high school students who have a good language foundation and study hard can enter the university by passing the exam within two years. The Swedish Immigration Bureau has strict control over language study visas, so it is very unlikely that some students from China will continue their studies year after year, which is also the main reason why some students return to China or transfer to other places. According to several China students who have entered the university, China students are facing the pressure of dual foreign languages because the university teachers teach in Swedish and the teaching materials involve English and Swedish. They find it difficult to study, and some can't even get any credits in the first semester. Therefore, it is a time-consuming, expensive and very difficult way for domestic high school graduates to enter Swedish universities by learning languages, which is really unwise.

Fourthly, the recent situation of Swedish higher education reform.

At present, Swedish universities are planning two major reforms closely related to students from Sweden.

First, according to the "Bologna Process" plan to realize the integration of education in Europe, Sweden will change the four-and-a-half-year undergraduate and doctoral education system to the so-called "three-five-eight" system of undergraduate, master and doctoral education in 2008, so as to be in line with the international higher education system. At present, experts are revising the curriculum and teaching materials for this purpose. In the past, it usually took students one to one and a half years to study for a master's degree in China, but in 2008, after the implementation of the new academic system, this time reached two years.

Second, in order to ensure the interests of domestic taxpayers and solve the problem of insufficient education funds, Swedish universities will charge tuition fees for students from countries outside the EU. The government set up a special demonstration committee headed by the former chairman of Swedish society. The current proposal is to charge 80,000 Swedish kronor per person per year, equivalent to 9,000 euros. It is estimated that after the implementation of the charging policy, a large number of tuition fees and higher living expenses will have a certain negative impact on the source of international students. At present, there are disputes about this reform from all walks of life. In view of the fact that neighboring Denmark took the lead in implementing the university fee system this year, some Swedish education experts suggested that the quality and quantity of students should be closely observed after the implementation of the Danish fee system, and then the Swedish fee standard should be finally determined. It is estimated that the above charging policy may be implemented as early as autumn 2008.

I want to go to Sweden, too.

But now I'm confused

It is best to choose a major before going abroad.

Sweden now wants IELTS scores, 6 for undergraduate students and 6.5 for graduate students. Tuition is free! Generally speaking, Lund and Uppsala are better. Stanford University and Columbia University are also very good, with science and engineering students. KTH, CTH and CTH are better than KTH. Universities, universities, Luyan Institute of Technology, etc. . .

You'd better learn Swedish when you go to Sweden, otherwise life will be too inconvenient.