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Tuition Fees for International Students

Important information about tuition fees for applicants from outside the EU/EEA and Switzerland

The Norwegian government has decided that Norwegian universities and higher education institutions will be required to introduce tuition fees for certain groups of students. This includes students from countries outside the EEA (EU and EFTA countries) and Switzerland.

Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (HVL) have therefore implemented tuition fees for our international applicants from outside the EU/EEA.

HVL does not offer any scholarships, nor do we control any sources of student funding and cannot assist students financially.

How much will the tuition fees be?

The tuition fees for the international study programs at HVL will be:

Maritime Operations – Exempt from tuition fee due to joint degree
Climate Change Management – 260 000 NOK per year
Fire Safety– 260 000 NOK per year
Healthy Aging and Rehabilitation – 180 000 NOK per year

Current rates for other study programs for the academic year 2024/2025 are based on the various study categories:

Category F - 130 000 NOK per year

Category E - 160 000 NOK per year

Category D - 180 000 NOK per year

Category C - 260 000 NOK per year

Category B - 380 000 NOK per year

Category A – 500 000 NOK per year

It is possible to find an overview of price categories for various studies at DBH.no

If you have paid the tuition fee within the deadline, but later have to withdraw from the program you can apply to have the tuition fee refunded within 1 September 2024.

Exemptions 1:

Students belonging to one of these categories are exempted from the requirement to pay tuition fees - and do not have to apply for an exemption:

Students from outside the EU/EEA for our joint master degree in Maritime Operations.
Citizens from an EU/EEA country or Switzerland
Exchange students from one of HVL's partner institutions
Students who were admitted to their study program before 2023. This applies to study programmes where admission has been granted prior to 2023, and also single courses (open/restricted access) which do not require their own admission. It does NOT apply to new courses/study programs which require applying for admission as of autumn 2023
Students admitted to an Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters programme
Doctoral students/PhD-students

Exemptions 2

Students who fall under any of the exemption categories under must apply for an exemption and are responsible for acquiring and submitting the required documentation. List of exemptions based on the Student Financial Aid Regulation § 7:

You do not have to pay tuition fees if you have permanent residence permit in Norway.

Documentation requirements:

Copy of your passport or national ID card
Copy of your residence card
Copy of the decision letter from the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI)

You do not have to pay tuition fees if you have residence (asylum) in Norway due to protection, strong humanitarian considerations or a special connection to Norway.

Documentation requirements:

Copy of the decision letter from the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI)
Copy of your passport or national ID card
Copy of your residence card (both sides)

You do not have to pay tuition fees if you are married to a Norwegian citizen. Both you and your spouse must live together in Norway.

Documentation requirements:

Copy of your passport or national ID card
Copy of your residence card (both sides)
Copy of your marriage certificate from the Norwegian Tax Administration or from the foreign authority who officiated the wedding
Copy of the residence certificate (bostedsattest) for you and your spouse. You can get a residence certificate at The Norwegian Tax Administration
Your spouse's Norwegian national identity number (if this is not stated on the marriage certificate) or a copy of your spouse’s Norwegian passport/national identity card
Copy of the decision letter from the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI)

You do not have to pay tuition fees if you are cohabiting and have children with a Norwegian citizen. Both you and your cohabiting person must live together in Norway.

Documentation requirements:

Copy of your passport or national ID card
Copy of your residence card
Copy of the residence certificate (bostedsattest) for you, your cohabitating partner and your child. You can get a residence certificate at The Norwegian Tax Administration
Copy of the decision letter from the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI)

You do not have to pay tuition fees if you have a residence permit as family member of an EU/EEA citizen that lives in Norway. The EU/EEA citizen must have grounds for residence in Norway other than studying. Family here includes father, mother, spouse, or cohabitant the student has a child with.

Documentation requirements:

Copy of your passport
Copy of your residence card (both sides)
Copy of the decision from The Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) or the police showing that the student has been granted family reunion with a family member that has a valid residence permit in Norway. The documentation of approved family reunion must be submitted even if the student now has a valid permanent residence permit
Copy of the current residence permit or registration certificate for the person the student has been granted family reunion with.

You do not have to pay tuition fees if you have a residence permit due to family immigration. The person with whom you have been reunited must either be a Norwegian citizen or a foreign national with a reason for residence in Norway other than studying.

Furthermore, you do not have to pay tuition fees if you have gained a continued residence permit on an independent basis due to the Norwegian immigration act § 53.

Documentation requirements:

Copy of your passport or national ID card
Copy of your residence card
Copy of the decision letter from the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI)
Copy of the residence card or registration certificate for your family member

During a transitional period that lasted until 2020, the United Kingdom was to be treated as if it were still a member of the EU and the EEA.

If you are a citizen of the United Kingdom, who was entitled to reside in Norway in accordance with the EEA agreement before the end of the transition period (31.12.2020), you are exempt to pay tuition fees. You must also have stayed in Norway.

If you came to Norway on 1 January 2021 or later, you are not exempt from the tuition fees.

The same rules apply for family members of UK citizens, in accordance with the Separation Agreement EEA EFTA – UK, Article 9 (1) e.

Documentation requirements:

Copy of your passport
Copy of your residence card (both sides)
Copy of the decision letter from the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) showing that you had a valid residency permit in Norway before 31 December 2020
Documentation that you have been residing in Norway since before 31 December 2020

You do not have to pay tuition fees if you have had continuous full-time work in Norway, have been resident in and paid tax to Norway during a qualifying period of at least 24 months.

You must have had a residence permit as an employee during the earning period. There must be no break during the accrual period or between the accrual period and further studies. However, exceptions can be made for stays of up to 1 year in the event of illness or childbirth.

Stays due to ordinary five-week holidays per year will be accepted as part of the accrual period of 24 months.

Au-pair work is not considered full-time employment and does therefore not give exemptions from paying tuition fees.

Documentation requirements:

Copy of your passport or national ID card
Copy of your residence card
Confirmation(s) from employer(s) showing that you have had continuous full-time employment in Norway for at least 24 months immediately prior to commencing the study programme (start and finish dates). The confirmation(s) must show the role percentage and start and finish dates of the employment. An employment contract is not considered sufficient documentation.
Documentation showing that you have paid tax in Norway for the last 24 months immediately prior to commencing studies. This could include copies of the tax return, payslips or corresponding documentation.
Copy of the decision letter from the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI)

You have studied in Norway during the past three years and completed 180 ECTS credits (fulltime equivalent) during this time. There cannot be any gaps in your studies, neither during the three years nor between your previous studies in Norway and the start of the studies you now have been admitted to at NTNU. Exemptions are given for up to one year in cases of illness or childbirth.

During the qualifying period you cannot have received educational support from Lånekassen (the Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund), public educational support from other countries or from any Norwegian public developmental support programmes like Norad, The Norwegian Programme for Development Research and Education (NUFU), The Norwegian Programme for Capacity Development in Higher Education and Research for Development (NORHED).

You must submit:

Copy of your passport
Copy of your residence card (both sides)
Copy of your academic transcript and diploma from the completed education in Norway. The academic transcript must include the stamp and signature of the educational institution
A signed self-declaration that you have not received student aid from Lånekassen, or another country's equivalent public student aid scheme

You have applied for, and been granted, support from Lånekassen

You must submit:

Copy of the decision letter from Lånekassen

How to apply for exemption and deadlines

To apply for exemption, you must send an email to admission@hvl.no with the following information:

your application or student number
the name of the program you are admitted to.
the type of exemption that applies to you
the required documents for the mentioned exemption

Documentation requirements depend on your reason for exemption, and can be found in the list of exemptions 2 on this webpage.

You can apply for an exemption from tuition fees once you have been admitted and have received an admission letter as a confirmation. You must apply within three weeks after you received your admission letter.

Did your admission letter not mention tuition fees?

If you have received an admission letter that did not mention tuition fees, but you are not a citizen of the EU/EEA or Switzerland, and do not qualify for automatic exemptions as listed in points further up on this webpage, you have an obligation to report to HVL.

If you are a citizen of a country outside the EU/EEA or Switzerland, and believe you might qualify for a tuition fee exemption due to permanent residency in Norway or other ties to Norway, you should still contact us and apply for exemption.

Please notify us by sending an e-mail to admission@hvl.no

Modified 05.09.24