Independent higher education providers

Independent higher education providers are HEIs that are not in the public sector but run, for example, by a foundation, company or association. Some independent higher education providers are entitled to award the qualifications laid down in the Qualifications Ordinance, Annex 2 to the Higher Education Ordinance, in other words the same kinds of qualifications as those that public-sector HEIs can award. Some offer a wide range of programmes and can award qualifications in several fields, for instance Chalmers University of Technology, the Stockholm School of Economics and Jönköping University, while others can only award qualifications in a specific field, like Beckmans College of Design or Örebro Theological Seminary.

There are also independent higher education providers that are not entitled to award qualifications according to the Act Concerning Authority to Award Certain Qualifications such as the Scandinavian College of Naprapathic Medicine and Skandinaviska Kiropraktorskolan (Scandinavian School of Chiropractic). Independent higher education providers of this kind often offer programmes that lead to the award of a qualification that is not listed in the Qualifications Ordinance or programmes that do not lead to the award of any formal qualification.

No, major sections of the Higher Education Act (1992:1434) and the Higher Education Ordinance do not apply to independent higher education providers. The activities of the independent higher education providers that have been granted the right to award specific qualifications are subject to the Act Concerning Authority to Award Certain Qualifications (1993:792). This act stipulates that programmes are to be based on scholarship or artistic practice and on proven experience and that they are to be provided so that in other respects they fulfil the requirements laid down for courses and programmes in Chapter 1 of the Higher Education Act. Otherwise the Higher Education Act does not apply to these higher education providers. Nor are they subject to the Higher Education Ordinance, apart from the requirement that the qualification they are entitled to award must fulfil the specific requirements laid down for it in the Qualifications Ordinance.

In addition to these regulations, the Discrimination Act (2008:567) applies to the activities of an independent higher education provider. The Discrimination Ombudsman supervises compliance with the Discrimination Act.

The scope open to UKÄ (Swedish Higher Education Authority) to exercise supervision of independent higher education providers entitled to award qualifications as laid down in the Higher Education Ordinance is restricted. This is because many of the statutes that apply to the HEIs and other government agencies do not apply to independent higher education providers. We are able, however, to monitor whether these independent higher education providers comply with their own regulations. We supervision of independent higher education providers that have not been granted entitlement to award qualifications is even more restricted.

Initially you should turn to your own HEI. Each independent higher education provider has its own appeal board and student representatives or their counterparts to safeguard the legal rights of their students. For this reason it is often possible to have a decision by the institution reviewed. If this does not solve the problem, there may in some cases be grounds for making a complaint to us.

If you would like to read more about how to submit a complaint and how it is dealt with when received by us you can do it under the complaints about higher education institutions page.

Complaints about higher education institutions page