College and university students in Norway are the oldest in Europe, according to new numbers from state statistics bureau SSB (Statistics Norway). Fully 25 percent of Norwegian students are over the age of 30.
Norway has long had much older students than those in the US, for example, where most college students come directly from high school at the age of 18 and graduate four years later at 22. In Norway, that’s when many student begin university studies. Most don’t complete the Norwegian equivalent of high school until the age 19, and it’s common to take a year or two off to travel, work or fulfill military service obligations.
SSB’s numbers confirming the trend were gathered from the European student survey Eurostudent. It showed that the majority of students in countries survey were under the age of 25. That was also true for Norway, at 52 percent, but Norway’s overall numbers had higher percentages of students older than 25, and over 30.
newsinenglish.no staff
