– Very few

– This is much too little, says President of the Student Parliament, Heine Skipenes.

Out of all the students on degree programs at the University of Oslo (UiO) in 2006, only 28.7 per cent completed a full-time study course, equivalent to 60 study points, while 10.8 per cent did more. Among the students registered as single-course students, only 12 per cent were taking 60 study points or more. The statistics are based on the number of students registered for exams at UiO for the spring and autumn semester of 2006. Fresh numbers from Statistics Norway (SSB) show that on a national scale, only 62.9 per cent managed to complete their Bachelor degrees and thus maintaining standard academic progress. For Master Students, the number for 2006 was a mere 45.1 per cent.

Skipenes finds the numbers strangely low.

– It seems that the conditions for full-time students are far from favourable, he says.

Needs more background information

Director of Academic Affairs at UiO, Monica Bakken, says that there are many reasons why so many students decide to study part-time.

– Some students work in addition to studying, while others have the ambition to study full-time, but change their minds during the semester, she says. We also know that a lot of people register on the full programs even though they are only interested in following some of the classes.

Bakken explains that they are doing their best at helping the students to finish their studies in the prescribed time.

– We try to give the students enough information before they start, so that they choose the right program. A lot of people change their minds along the way, and this is expensive both for the student and for the university. The Quality Reform has made it easier to follow-up each student, but the question remains whether or not this is enough.

According to Bakken, UiO will make a study in 2008 in order to find the reason why so many students struggle with completing their degrees while maintaining standard academic progress.

– We plan to examine how the study courses work on the individual level to see what makes people complete the degree program, fall behind or drop out along the way. This will make it easier to see how we can go about changing these trends. But first we need to obtain more background information, Bakken says.

Blames part-time jobs

Siri Haugen is taking her third year at Kultur- og idéstudier. She is taking 50 study points this semester, and is one of the 10.8 per cent on degree programs who are taking more than 60 study points a year.

– The extra classes are mostly for fun, she says.

Haugen believes that the reason why so many fall behind is that a lot of students prioritize work at the expense of studying.

– A lot of employers make students work more than what they actually have the time to, she says.

Skipenes agrees that part-time work leaves the students with less time for study.

– When you study part-time you often miss both the weekends and the afternoons. I have had to do it myself and I know that a lot of people are experiencing the same thing, he says.

Hedda Fossum Moen did experience the same thing. She is taking a Bachelor degree in Spanish and is only taking 20 study points this autumn.

– I tried to do 30, but one of the classes ended up taking too much time. It would have been fine if I had the time, but with my job that just wasn\\\'t possible, she explains.

Lacking in resources

State secretary in the Ministry of Research and Higher Education, Jens Revold, says that the numbers proves that higher education is lacking in resources.

– This is simply not good enough, he says, but stresses that the standard academic progress is better today than what it was before the Quality Reform, even if it has not reached the desired level so far.

– However, the way things look at the moment there will not be any increase of allocated funds in the budget for 2008, apart from adjusting support to keep pace with inflation.