Responsible unit: Student Services and Office of the President
Contact: Lotten Hultgren Viklund, Tove Holmqvist

The president 2022-12-01, Dnr SU FV-3798-22

The government decides what qualifications may be awarded by higher education institutions. All universities have the general authority to award the following qualifications: higher education diploma, degree of bachelor, degree of master (60 credits), degree of master (120 credits), degree of licentiate, and degree of doctor. A qualification can only be awarded if the training meets the requirements specified in the Higher Education Act, the Higher Education Ordinance, and the university’s own policy documents. 

All qualifications are placed within one of the three education cycles: first cycle (bachelor’s level), second cycle (master’s level), and third cycle (doctoral level). A title of qualification consists of a degree as specified in the Higher Education Ordinance; where relevant, it is preceded or followed by a designation indicating the area of specialisation.

Each higher education institution can adopt local regulations concerning, for example, what main fields of study should be available, what designations general qualifications should have, and what specific local requirements should apply in addition to the requirements of the national qualification descriptors.

The local system of qualifications includes national regulations (mainly the Higher Education Act, SFS 1992:1434, and the Higher Education Ordinance, SFS 1993:100, incl. Appendix 2 – System of Qualifications) as well as the University’s local regulations. The local regulations have been designed in accordance with the Swedish Council for Higher Education’s provisions and general advice on translating Swedish degrees into English (UHRFS 2013:6).

The Association of Swedish Higher Education’s recommendations concerning Swedish names for degree designations and their English translations (SUHF Rek 2010:2) have also been taken into account.