APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200090021-3
normal period. In the fall of 1970 the number of undergraduates enrolled in different university disciplines was as follows:
| Theology | 1,373 |
| Law | 7,707 |
| Medicine | 7,570 |
| Dentistry | 1,804 |
| Humanities | 27,610 |
| Social sciences | 35,568 |
| Mathematics and natural sciences | 14,413 |
| Total | 96,045 |
An additional 28,395 students were enrolled in university level technical and artistic institutes, the large majority of which are "closed," i.e., have fairly rigidly fixed quotas of incoming students.
The fact that many students enrolled in the philosophical faculties take much more than the normal period of 3 to 4 years to complete their first degree work and that nearly half leave the university without completing their studied has led to a number of reforms. Thus, so that students are not delayed in taking certain basic courses, these courses are offered more than once a year. The examination system has also been tightened up, so that a student may be refused permission to take a final examination in any one subject more than four times except in unusual circumstances. In 1969 the Riksdag adopted legislation restricting the students' former freedom to select courses for the first degree in the philosophical faculties. The whole program is now more structured, as in the closed faculties. The 1969 reforms have also replaced the traditional system of units (6 required for a first degree) with credits (40 to be earned each year). Most students are expected to complete their first degree in 3 years, although the reforms permit some to continue their studies, earning up to a maximum of 60 credits beyond the 120 required for the first degree.
Swedish university students are not classified according to year as is customary in U.S. universities. A typical student passes a general examination in the philosophical faculties leading in the degree of filosofie kandidat or filosofie magister 3 or 5 years respectively after admission. The latter degree includes added course work in the field of specialty and in pedagogy, and it qualifies the recipient for teaching in upper secondary schools. Until recently, the degree of filosofie licentiat could be acquired until several more years of study. The minimum time for completion of this degree, which corresponded roughly to the American Ph.D. degree except that there was less emphasis on independent research, was generally 4 or 3 years after graduation as filosofie kandidat or filosofie magister. Also, until recently, the filosofie doctorsgrad (doctorate in philosophy) could be attained several years after the licentiat. This degree was awarded in recognition of a major scientific contribution through independent research, and it had a standing somewhat higher than that of the American Ph.D. degree. Because of the demanding requirements of the licentiat and doktor degrees, the average student generally received the former at the age of 32 and the latter at the age of 37. Beginning in 1969, the traditional licentiat and doktor degrees were replaced by a new U.S. style doctorate degree. The new Ph.D. degree was introduced in order to shorten the period of degree candidacy, and may be obtained in 4 instead of the traditional 6 to 9 years after the first degree. It was felt that the long period of study required for the traditional doctorate served to restrict the number of students pursuing careers in science.
Postsecondary education in Sweden is financed almost entirely by public funds. Total public expenditures on all higher education increased from SKr50 million in 1951 to an estimated SKr650.8 million in 1967/68. Expenditures for the universities amounted to SKr443.2 million in 1967/68 and are expected to increase to SKr535 million in 1972. In 1966/67 the average recurrent cost per year per student ranged from SKr1,300 in the faculty of social sciences and SKr1,600 in law, to SKr9,600 in the institutes of technology and SKr18,400 in the dental colleges. Since 1960 there has been only one private university level institution in Sweden, the Stockholm School of Economics, and it receives about 40% of its income from the government. The Wallenberg Foundation, the chief source of private funds, grants about SKr5 million annually to the universities.
Sweden has a highly developed system of financial assistance to students in higher education. The university level institutions charge no tuition fees, although students are required to pay annual fees of between SKr50 and SKr100 per term to their local student unions. Students over 20 years of age, who are treated as though they are economically independent of their parents, receive a grant of SKr175 per month during the school year. All students in need of further financial assistance are entitled to loans of up to SKr6,500 per academic year. Study funds available to undergraduates in higher education total about SKr8,800 per year per student, of which SKr1,750 is an outright grant. Child supplements may also be added to this amount An undergraduate with one child to support, for example, is entitled to about SKr10,400 per year. Students engaged in postgraduate research
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APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200090021-3
